Tesco Bank: Money stolen from 20’000 accounts

Hertfordshire / UK. (tesco) British Tesco Bank confirms that, over the last weekend, some of its customers’ current accounts have been subject to online criminal activity, in some cases resulting in money being withdrawn fraudulently. «We apologise for the worry and inconvenience that this has caused for customers, and can only stress that we are taking every step to protect our customers’ accounts», says Chief Executive Benny Higgins in a first statement. «That is why, as a precautionary measure, we have taken the decision now to temporarily stop online transactions from current accounts. This will only affect current account customers. While online transactions will not be available, current account customers will still be able to use their cards for cash withdrawals, chip and pin payments, and all existing bill payments and direct debits will continue as normal. We are working hard to resume normal service on current accounts as soon as possible». The Bank, since 2008 wholly owned subsidiary of Tesco PLC, continues to work with the authorities and regulators to address the fraud and will keep its customers informed through regular updates on its website, Twitter and direct communication. Benny Higgins: «We can reassure customers that any financial loss as a result of this activity will be resolved fully by Tesco Bank, and we are working to refund accounts that have been subject to fraud as soon as possible».
 

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About Tesco Bank

Since 2008 Tesco Bank is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tesco PLC. On October 05 Tesco PLC announced its interim financial results for the first half 2016/2017 – the 26 weeks ended 27 August 2016. Included in this announcement, Tesco PLC reported the following development of Tesco Bank.

	This year	Last year	YOY Change
Revenue	503 mio. GBP	478 mio. GBP	5.2%
Operating profit before exceptional items	89 mio. GBP	86 mio. GBP	3.5%
Statutory operating profit	22 mio. GBP	86 mio. GBP	(74.4)%
Lending to customers	9’262 mio. GBP	8’297 mio. GBP	11.6%
Customer deposits	8’107 mio. GBP	6’581 mio. GBP	23.2%
Net interest margin	3.9%	4.2%	(0.3)%
Risk asset ratio	19.9%	19.1%	0.8%