Between April and June 2023, the Current Account Switch Service saw a 76% increase in the number of switches on the same period last year. A total of 338,194 switches took place during this time compared to the 191,777 in Q2 2022.

The upward switching trend can be seen over the full year too, with the service facilitating 1,277,484 switches between 1 July 2022 and 30 June 2023. This figure represents a 50% year-on-year increase on the 850,243 switches that occurred between July 2021 and June 2022.

Current Account Switch Service end user data (which is three months in arrears) shows that from January to March 2023, NatWest saw the highest net switching gains (45,651), followed by HSBC (28,486), Lloyds Bank (10,959), and RBS (4,165).

The Service has now facilitated 9.5 million switches in total since its launch, successfully redirecting 137.8 million payments. For small business and charity accounts 5,814 switches took place during Q2 2023.

Q2 data reveals the Current Account Switch Service surpassed its 90% satisfaction target, hitting 91%, and met its awareness target of 75%. The latest data also highlights that 86% of Current Account Switch Service end users would recommend the process.

The latest data2 for Q2 2023 shows that 7 in 10 (71%) switchers preferred their new current account to their previous one, with service-related, non-financial benefits continuing to be the main reasons end users preferred their new account.

Those who switched current account through the Service over Q2 2023 cited better online or mobile app banking (41%) and customer service (29%) as the top two reasons for preferring their new account. Financial factors also ranked highly, with interest earned (29%) and account fees or charges (25%) coming in as the third and fourth most important factors.

John Dentry, Product Owner at Pay.UK, owner and operator of the Current Account Switch Service, said: “The Service continues to play a vital role in allowing people and businesses the flexibility to change accounts and find a banking partner that better suits their needs. This quarter’s switching figures demonstrate a healthy and competitive switching environment for consumers and businesses during a time of economic uncertainty with high inflationary pressures.
“People can rest assured that if they decide to move to a new banking provider through the Current Account Switch Service, the process will be quick, free and easy.”