Tesco Bank 'unlocking accounts'

30 June 2011 Last updated at 12:58 GMT Problems originated from an upgrade of computer systems Two-thirds of Tesco Bank customers who were locked out of their accounts throughout last week have now logged back in online, the bank says.

Some 1,650 of the 2,500 who were excluded owing to technical issues are now back in the system.

The remainder had been contacted and should be able to access their accounts using the information sent to them, a spokesman said.

The bank has already apologised after admitting it failed some customers.

The problems surfaced when the bank migrated all its online savings accounts from the Royal Bank of Scotland's system to its own computers.

Two technical failures last Monday and Tuesday left people who were online at the time unable to access their accounts until they took several steps to reset their security details.

Customers' frustrations were increased when many found they could not get through on the telephone to the busy customer service call centre.

"Tesco strive to deliver service of the highest standard and for a significant minority of customers we have failed to do that," Tesco Bank chief executive Benny Higgins told BBC Radio 4's Money Box on Saturday.

"We do apologise unreservedly. It's absolutely our focus to put this right."

Earlier in the week, the bank told the BBC News website that anyone who had incurred costs as a result of the problems would be refunded.

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Tesco bank accounts still locked

23 June 2011 Last updated at 11:12 GMT Tesco Bank, which operates in stores, online and by telephone, has about 850,000 savings accounts Some customers of Tesco Bank are still locked out of their online accounts, four days after a move of the bank's computer systems during the weekend.

The banking system crashed, locking out customers, after Tesco moved the accounts from computers run by its former partner RBS.

Tesco says most people can access their accounts and has taken on extra staff at its call centres.

However, some BBC website readers say they still cannot get their money.

"I still cannot access my internet savings account," said David, from London.

"If this wasn't an internet bank it would be the equivalent of a High Street bank closing some of its branches.

"It's been shut for four days but they advertise my money as being on instant demand," he added.

The bank's website carries an apology to customers.

"We want to apologise unreservedly to our savings customers who have experienced difficulties in accessing our online banking system in recent days," the message on the Tesco website says.

"The problem has led to an increase in call volumes to our call centre and we have not been able to answer calls as quickly as you would expect, or we would like.

"The majority of customers are able to access their accounts. However, we know there are some customers that have not been able to log in," the message adds.

'At boiling point'

The bank's website carries advice on what customers should do, especially if they use the Internet Explorer 9 web browser, which was launched earlier this year.

Tesco believes that this has a compatibility problem with its system, which can be very easily fixed if customers follow some instructions to re-set their browsers.

Many customers have been frustrated at both the computer lock-out and the inability of Tesco's call centre to deal with the big jump in calls.

"I spent four hours Tuesday 21st and a further three hours so far [on Wednesday] trying to contact their helpdesk - suffering the exasperation of a disembodied voice telling me how important my call is to them, so I don't believe the issue has been fixed," Johan Sinclair told the BBC on Wednesday.

"I am at boiling point as I have no other way to contact them and in the meantime I have no access to my account."

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Update affects Tesco Bank systems

20 June 2011 Last updated at 14:34 GMT Tesco Bank was initially launched as a joint venture with RBS Some customers of Tesco Bank have been unable to access their accounts during an update of computer systems, the bank has confirmed.

The bank, which operates in stores, online and by telephone, said problems occurred when transferring savings and loans products in-house, from its previous joint operation with RBS.

It apologised to customers but said the issue had now been fixed.

Many online banking services have suffered computer glitches in the past.

Tesco Bank has 6.5 million customer accounts, with services ranging from insurance to credit cards, loans and personal savings offers.

It launched in 1997 as Tesco Personal Finance, a joint venture with RBS, but became fully owned by Tesco in 2008.

Over the weekend, some systems were moved over from RBS.

"For a brief period some customers were unfortunately unable to access their accounts," a Tesco spokesman said.

"We apologise for this, but can reassure them that the process is now complete and all customers can access their accounts online as normal."

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Tesco sales grow but UK subdued

14 June 2011 Last updated at 08:22 GMT Sales in its UK home market remain in the doldrums, Tesco's latest results show Tesco has reported strong sales growth overseas for the first three months of its financial year, but the UK remains subdued.

Group sales were up 7.3% versus a year ago, excluding petrol and ignoring the dampening effect of the stronger pound.

The result was driven by international demand - notably in Thailand (up 8%), China (6.4%) and Eastern Europe.

In contrast, UK like-for-like sales excluding petrol and the effect of VAT fell 0.1%.

That was worse than the 0.6% growth expected by market analysts, and Tesco's share price fell five pence to 402p at the start of Tuesday trading in London, while the rest of the market rose.

Tesco makes about two-thirds of its sales and profits in the UK.

"Tesco was always going to be swimming against the tide with this update," said Richard Hunter, head of UK equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers.

He said that market expectations had been too high, given the anaemic UK retail environment.

"In all, Tesco seems to be seen as tomorrow's story. The planks to its strategy are in place, particularly in furthering international diversification."

Plus points

The 0.1% fall in UK sales was nonetheless an improvement on the three months before, when like-for-like sales - which exclude the effect of changes in shopfloor capacity - were down 0.7% from a year ago.

Tesco blamed the "cautious consumer environment" and the burden of high fuel costs for the weak underlying growth figure, but said that it was still doing better than rivals.

However, there were some plus points in the UK market.

Continue reading the main story The firm pointed to an "excellent performance" in newly opened stores - which are excluded from the like-for-like figures. Overall UK sales excluding petrol were up 4.9%.

And sales of its "Finest" food range rose 10%, as "customers seek out quality alternatives to eating out".

Meanwhile, Tesco Bank saw a 20% increase in revenue.

Tesco plans to start offering mortgages through its rapidly developing financial services arm later this year.

'Good start'

Tesco also reported a continuing strong turnaround at its loss-making "Fresh n Easy" US business, where like-for-like sales growth accelerated to 11%.

But some individual national markets did underperform the UK, such as post-earthquake Japan (down 6.4%) and the recession-hit Irish Republic (down 3.9%).

The results give a first indication of how the supermarket chain has fared since its long-time chief executive, Sir Terry Leahy, stepped down in March.

His replacement, Philip Clarke, said: "Tesco has made a good start to the new financial year, despite consumer sentiment in many of our key markets remaining subdued.

"Uncertainties remain, but with early, encouraging signs of better performance emerging in both the UK and US, I am confident that this start will provide the platform for another year of growth."

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