Current Account Switch Service hits eight million milestone as switching volumes increase year-on-year

• The Current Account Switch Service has completed over eight million switches since launch and redirected over 120 million payments
• 196,964 switches took place between January and March 2022, a 41% increase on the same period in 2021
• Customer switching data, which is three months in arrears, found that Santander, Nationwide and Starling Bank had the highest net switching gains between October and December 2021
• Research found that non-financial benefits continue to be the main reasons people prefer their new current account to their old one. However, many are also looking for new product features, such as overdraft facilities, partly in response to the cost-of-living crisis

28^th April 2022: The Current Account Switch Service today publishes its Q1 2022 Dashboard¹ reporting the latest switching figures and trends.

The Service saw an uplift in switching between January and March 2022, where 196,964 switches took place, compared to the same period last year where 138,964 switches occurred. The switches in 2022 saw the Current Account Switch Service pass the eight million switches milestone.

Current Account Switch Service customer data (which is three months in arrears) shows that from October to December 2021, Santander had the highest net switching gains (36,494), followed by Nationwide (33,691) and Starling Bank (10,364). Monzo (3,068) and ethical bank Triodos (642) were in fourth and fifth place respectively. Net end user inflows are typically influenced by customer switching incentives and, in recent times, a need for many end users to switch away from Tesco and M&S, which closed their current account offerings.

The Service continued to perform well in Q1 2022 and exceeded its awareness and satisfaction targets at 76% and 90% respectively. It also completed 99.8% of switches within seven working days.

The latest data² for Q1 2022 shows service related, non-financial benefits continue to be the main reasons end users prefer their new current account to their old one – as has been the case in the previous year. Online banking (53%), mobile banking/banking app ease (42%), customer service (40%) and location of branches (22%) were listed as the top reasons for people preferring their new current account. One in six (15%) current account holders are actively thinking about switching, with those who have experienced a major life event in the past year twice as likely to consider switching (22% compared to 9%).

In Q1 2022, research³ conducted by the Current Account Switch Service into the impact of the pandemic on brand loyalty found that 33% of end users claim to be very loyal to their existing current account provider, but nearly one in five (18%) feel that the cost-of-living crisis is pushing them to seek out product features such as additional overdraft facilities. One in ten (10%) also believe that they now need banking services that can help them better track their spending.

David Piper, Head of Service Lines at Pay.UK, owner and operator of the Current Account Switch Service, said: 

“Of course, with cost-of-living rises continuing to put pressure on many households it’s more important than ever that people assess whether their existing current account is best suited to their needs. It may be that an alternative provider could offer something preferable and we would encourage those considering a switch to remember that the Current Account Switch Service is free to use, easy and guaranteed.”

1 Full details are available in the latest edition of the Current Account Switch Service Dashboard (no.34), and includes the latest customer movement data for Q4 2021. is here.

2 Online research with over 2,000 respondents conducted by the Current Account Switch Service.

3 Online research carried out by Mortar Research which conducted a survey among 2,016 UK consumers. The research was conducted in February 2022.

*Previously 'Customers' have been referred to as 'Participants' and 'End Users' as 'Customers' by the Service. These changes will be reflected in all future press releases.