Small rise in current account switching as Halifax makes biggest gains
Just over 1% of the 70 million active current accounts in the UK were switched in the first nine months of this year – although thousands more people switched banks than in the same period in 2015.
Latest figures from the Current Account Switch Service show there were 802,036 switches between 1 January and 30 September, up 3% on the same period last year. The switching service has now seen more than 3.3 million successful switches since it launched in 2013, and reports a seven-day switching success rate of 99.5%.
See how to switch bank and our current top picks in the Best Bank Accounts guide.
Which banks are people switching to and from?
The stats released today also include switching figures for individual banks and building societies in the first quarter of 2016. Over that period Halifax was once again the most switched-to bank, though HSBC has gained significant ground in the battle to win current account customers' business – moving up the overall rankings from 12th to 4th in the space of just three months.
In the first quarter of 2016, HSBC gained a net 5,965 customers (49,349 new customers and 43,384 losses), compared with a net loss of 1,982 customers in the last quarter of 2015.
Otherwise the switching table remains similar to figures for the previous quarter, with Barclays once again taking the wooden spoon:
Top banks for current account switches in Q1 2016
| Brand | Gains | Losses | Net gains/losses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Halifax | 78,921 | 31,500 | 47,421 |
| Nationwide | 42,072 | 13,819 | 28,253 |
| Santander | 57,731 | 39,860 | 17,871 |
| HSBC | 49,349 | 43,384 | 5,965 |
| TSB | 15,797 | 11,438 | 4,359 |
| Tesco Bank | 772 | 664 | 108 |
| Bank of Ireland | 245 | 835 | -590 |
| Danske | 364 | 1,109 | -745 |
| AIB Group | 114 | 951 | -837 |
| Ulster Bank | 206 | 1,615 | -1,409 |
| Bank of Scotland | 2,556 | 4,494 | -1,938 |
| Clydesdale Bank | 6,602 | 10,268 | -3,666 |
| Co-operative Bank | 1,362 | 12,012 | -10,650 |
| RBS | 2,173 | 13,262 | -11,089 |
| Lloyds | 15,486 | 34,331 | -18,845 |
| NatWest | 14,099 | 36,493 | -22,394 |
| Barclays | 6,121 | 40,674 | -34,553 |
| Lower volume participants, ie, banks with fewer switches (1) | 823 | 670 | 153 |
| (1) C Hoare & Co, Commerzbank, Cumberland Building Society, Duncan Lawrie, Hampden & Co, Reliance Bank, Weatherbys Bank and Virgin Money. | |||
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10 December 2024
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