New data shows more Brits are switching their current accounts to different banking providers – but it’s still just a bare fraction of the total.
According to the Current Account Switch Service, more than 309,000 customers availed themselves of the accelerated switching services during the first quarter of 2016. Out of that, nearly 125,000 of those individuals switched in March alone, setting a high-water mark for the service since its 2013 launch.
It sounds impressive, doesn’t it? Well think again – there are some 68 million current accounts active at the countless personal and business bank account providers throughout the UK. In other words, those who are switching in order to get away from the sharp practices of their existing bank are a very small majority indeed.
In fact, since 2013 there have only been around 2.8 million switches total – not a very large sum in comparison to overall number of current accounts right now. The service was formulated to make it as easy as possible and in just seven working days to boot, with incoming and outgoing payments switched automatically to the new account – yet still people just aren’t doing it in sufficient numbers, it seems.
Honestly I’m not that surprised by this. It’s not a question of which bank is offering better current accounts than others, or which bank are people fed up with when it comes to excessive overdraft fees or needless bundles and add-ons – it’s that the entirety of the British current account market is just miserable. Why bother switching when the “deal” you’re going to get elsewhere is just marginally better than the rodgering you’re getting at your existing bank? Isn’t it just better to batten down the hatches, hunker down, and pray for the day that interest rates on savings accounts begin to creep back upwards to the point where it makes financial sense to start using them again?
Will things ever get better for the average Brit when it comes to finding a current account that won’t leave them in the poorhouse? Your guess is as good as mine, honestly. For what it’s worth, maybe if the Bank of England would raise the base interest rate a bit we’d see some new blood flowing through the veins of the British banking industry. Then again, maybe not – if there’s one thing overpaid and underworked bankers know how to do, it’s hold on to their money, often to the detriment of their hopelessly loyal customers. Might as well stuff your mattress with 20-pound notes while we’re at it!