FRANKFURT/BONN (dpa-AFX) - An unknown number of customers of Deutsche Bank and its subsidiary Postbank have been affected by a data leak. There has been a security incident at an external account switching service provider, the financial institution confirmed in Frankfurt on Friday. Personal data had been leaked, but unknown persons had not been able to gain access to the accounts. According to information from the "Bonner General-Anzeiger", first names, names and IBAN were stolen.

According to Deutsche Bank, it concerns customers who had used the account switching service in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2020. Those affected had been informed in writing, a spokesman explained. They were called upon to check their accounts for suspicious debits or unusual activity. Unauthorized direct debits could be returned retroactively for up to 13 months. The money would then be refunded by the bank.

The cause of the incident had been identified and fixed by the service provider, he said. Potentially, more than 100 companies in more than 40 countries were affected. Deutsche Bank stated that its own systems were not affected at any time. The incident was also not related to the IT integration of Postbank accounts that had just been completed./ceb/DP/stk