Thousands of NatWest, Halifax and Santander rushed to ditch their current accounts as switch to rival banks, new figures show.
Barclays, Nationwide, and Lloyds emerged as the “big winners”, as shown by figures unveiled by the Current Account Switch Service (Cass). The data reveals that Nationwide saw a net gain of 163,363 account switches in total between October 1st and December 31st. Following them, Barclays achieved 12,823 net gains while Lloyds managed to gather an additional 5,800 customers.
On the other hand, there were substantial net switching losses for Natwest (43,182), RBS (11,621), Halifax (41,144) and Santander (34,581).
Andrew Hagger, founder of Moneycomms.co.uk and personal finance expounders, said “Nationwide blew the competition away” during the last quarter of prior year. He added: “Consumers are happy to jump ship for the next freebie – particularly as people are still feeling the squeeze from higher bills.”
TotallyMoney CEO, Alastair Douglas, regarding the report said: “If, and when cash bonuses return to market, let’s just hope they’re simple and easy to understand. Recently, we’ve seen some banks ask customers to jump through multiple hoops to secure the headline offer, including minimum transaction numbers, app logins, and even setting up a separate savings account.”
“But whatever does happen, it’s probably worth checking to see if you can secure improved rates, cheaper overdrafts and a better service elsewhere.”
John Dentry, product owner at Pay. UK – owner and operator of Cass, said: “Cash incentives continue to be a highly effective way for banks to attract customers, but as we repeatedly see through our data, online or mobile app banking remains the top reason why people prefer their new account.
“The end of the financial year may have contributed to a spike in switching from businesses, as many spring clean their finances and set themselves up for a successful year ahead.”
