"The S@!t Bank" is in a big trouble due to IT glitch

TSB, one of the major banks in Britain, is often referred to by its customers as "The Shit Bank", as this perfectly matches both bank's practices and the its image. And this is not only because they have chosen a dull colour scheme that makes the interior of its branches look like a value isle of a supermarket or inside of a pharmacy in a deprived Communist country. Ever since the bank has split from Lloyds TSB, it has been failing its customers in many different ways. However, the recent IT glitch that happened recently is, by far, the most serious failing of the bank.

Indeed, this is a perfect textbook example of how IT integration shouldn't be done. The bank decided to migrate its customers to the new back-end system and this is when the things fell apart. Many customers have completely lost the ability to access their online banking. Many others could not make any payments or withdraw any cash. Some could log in, but saw some of the most extraordinary errors on their statements, such as being more than a million pounds overdrawn. Some have even gained full access to other people's savings accounts by logging in with their own credentials. Yet for some customers things just continued working as normal. So, the bank did not only experience a major IT glitch, but it also did so in the most inconsistent way possible.

The glitch was first noticed approximately two weeks ago and, at the time of writing, the bank still didn't manage to fix it yet. And this has created more than a handful of problems for TSB. It appears that, by not putting adequate procedures in place to protect customers' personal details, the bank has violated several privacy laws. Therefore, the bank is in serious trouble and it won't be easy to get out. To improve the public image of TSB, its boss, Paul Pester, has announces that he is giving up his £2m "integration" bonus. However, the sum is a mere drop in the ocean compared to what the bank will have to pay in fines and compensation.

"The Shit Bank" has truly lived up to its name. Yet another high-profile IT glitch has, once again, reiterated how important proper IT integration procedures are. Yes, certain practices in IT seem to be tedious and some IT professionals seem to be overpaid, but in reality both of these things are there for a reason. If you decide to take shortcuts on IT procedures or underpay your IT staff, you'll get what's coming for you.