42% of consumers more likely to switch current account from September

42% of consumers will be more likely to switch current account when the new Current Account Switch Service is introduced in September, according to research from uSwitch.com. But, with financial security now more important than customer service and value for money, consumers would choose a traditional high street bank over a new contender.
 
Just one in ten consumers (11%) have switched their current account over the last twelve months - and of those who have, over a third (36%) say the process took over two weeks. But this is set to change in September when the whole process will take no more than seven days and come with a money-back ‘guarantee' if anything goes wrong. With this in mind, 42% of consumers say they will be more likely to switch, while a further 46% will wait and see how the new service pans out.
 
According to the research, one in five customers (18%) are unhappy with their current account provider, with excess charges (45%), poor interest rates (36%) and in-branch queues (21%) the main gripes. But, despite high street banks having the lowest satisfaction ratings, almost half of consumers (49%) said they would still choose to hold their account with a traditional high street bank rather than a building society (23%), online or ‘alternative' bank such as First Direct, Metro Bank or the Post Office (22%), or a supermarket brand (3%).
 
The results show a turnaround from recent years when the tide seemed to be turning in favour of new entrants and smaller players. This movement looked set to continue, with high street banks performing badly in the recent uSwitch Current Account Awards, receiving particularly low scores for customer service and value for money. Santander was voted worst current account provider, closely followed by Barclays and RBS.  On the other hand, the newer entrants took a clean sweep, with First Direct, Smile and Co-op coming top in almost every category.
 
With consumers wanting a brand that is financially stable over one that is ethical or a household name to handle their finances, not only are they now opting to stick with the big banks, 45% say that they would be less likely to bank with the Co-op following their recent downgrade. In terms of account features, customers still say that customer services (29%) is the most important factor when picking a current account, followed by no hidden charges (19%), and a good interest rate (14%). Additional packaged account benefits such as travel insurance are low on the list (5%) and just 4% say a cash switching incentive is the priority. In fact, one in three (31%) say they would not be motivated to switch current account for a cash incentive.
 
Customer Service Gripes

Charges applied to the account 45%
Interest rates 36%
Queues in branch 21%
Wait time on phone 18%
Opening hours 11%
Online experience 10%
Overseas call centre 9%

Michael Ossei, personal finance expert at uSwitch.com says: "The fact that financial stability is the most important factor is a real sign of the times. Consumers are feeling bruised by what's happened in the banking sector over the last five years. They want to know that their money is in safe hands, and this is proving to be more of a siren call than the charms of good service, value for money or ethics on offer from smaller players.
 
"New entrants have been well-received on the surface, but it's clear they are going to have an uphill battle to actually convince consumers to make the move."