Foreign news: TSB migration woes continue, Deutsche abandons its ambitions, sharp drop for UK mortga
A day after reassuring customers that its systems were up and running following a botched switch to a new platform, UK bank TSB (which was carved out of Lloyds in 2013) has had to admit that it could take another week to get its internet and mobile banking systems functioning properly again. Half its customers remain unable to access their accounts. The bank's CEO said its Spanish parent Banco Sabadell misinformed him about the success of a fix, reports Finextra. He has called in a "team of global experts from IBM". The bank has now agreed to waive about £10 million in fees and pay millions in extra interest as compensation. The FT reports it will cancel all overdraft fees and interest charges for retail and small business customers over April, and will increase the interest rate on its main current account from three to five per cent. Deutsche Bank is giving up on its ambitions to become a leading global investment bank and is retreating into its European home market and significantly cutting back corporate finance and trading in the US, reports the FT. New CEO Christian Sewing said Deutsche would focus on corporate clients in Europe as part of his plan to "redefine the core of our bank". Mortgage lending in the UK suffered a sharp fall in March, with the total number of mortgage approvals for new house purchases down by 21 per cent, reports the FT. And in the year to February, house prices in London fell for the first time since 2009. PayPal has announced it will partner with Barclays Bank to make it easier for customers to manage their PayPal account in Barclays' digital channels. Small businesses using PayPal will be able to see their PayPal balance, transactions and sales within their Barclays SmartBusiness Dashboard. It follows similar agreements made by PayPal with HSBC and US banks Citi, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America.