Tesco Bank fined £16.4m for “largely avoidable” cyber attack

By Neasa MacErlean

Mistakes committed by the Financial Crime Operations Team at Tesco Bank during the November 2016 cyber-attack compounded deficiencies in its debit card design and financial crime controls – prompting a £16.4 million fine from the regulator. The breach was serious enough to warrant a £33,562,400 penalty, but the FCA granted an initial 30 per cent discount for Tesco Bank’s high level of cooperation, halting a large proportion of unauthorised transactions and comprehensive redress programme, plus the usual 30 per cent reduction for early settlement.