The foundation of banking is customer trust.
But Postbank, part of Deutsche Bank, is currently straining the trust of its customers - at least some.
They can hear statements from the institute that everything is running smoothly after another wave of IT migration at the turn of the year, although they don't believe their own experiences.
Whether there is no account statement coming out of the printer despite a valid bank card, phishing attacks are not prevented in time, or the online transfer does not work.
What follows are annoyingly long waiting times on the hotline, automatically generated e-mails or overworked employees in the remaining branches.
Deutsche Bank doesn't want to know anything about it.
Not only at Germany's largest commercial bank is it common to put the horse before the horse.
First branches are closed, then the necessary IT modernization is completed - knowing full well that such projects often do not go smoothly.
That doesn't have to concern the customer.
He wants to take care of his banking business, he pays for it.
And if he doesn't get the performance, then the only thing that helps is consistency: namely changing the bank.
There are many of them in Germany.
They may not be better than the Postbank, but they may be cheaper.
A service that is withheld is easier to get over if it costs nothing or at least less.