TSB CEO Paul Pester will not receive a £1.6 million "integration bonus" related to the bank's spectacularly botched IT migration, which left hundreds of thousands of customers unable to access services for days on end.
Speaking before the Treasury Select Committee, Pester said that he takes “absolute responsibility” for “unacceptable” customer service, although he could still receive bonuses this year.
More than a week after a switch to a new banking platform from parent Banco Sabadell went wrong, some TSB customers are still unable to access their accounts online or via the bank's app.
"If there is one decision in my life that I could change it was the decision to go ahead with the migration. Clearly that was a terrible decision for our bank, for our customers and for me personally," Pester told MPs.
However, he insisted that the migration was not rushed through to meet bonus targets and vowed not to resign, claiming that customers "should trust me because I will ensure I will bring TSB out of the problems we're in".
Pester also insisted that "the underlying engine of the bank is working very well”, which drew a stinging response from committee chair Nicky Morgan, who said: "What we are hearing is the most staggering example of a chief executive who seems unwilling to realise the scale of the problems that are being faced."