Current Account Switch Service levels accelerate in final months of 2021

• Close to a quarter of a million switches (248,902) took place between October and December 2021. This is 36,302 more than in Q3 2021, and 59,629 more than in Q4 2020
• 94,822 switches took place in October 2021, the highest monthly volume since March 2020
• 7.8 million switches have now been processed since the service launched in 2013, and awareness and satisfaction levels sit at 75 per cent and 91 per cent respectively
• Nationwide was the participant with the highest net gains in Q3 2021, followed by Starling Bank Monzo Bank, Santander and Virgin Money.

The Current Account Switch Service today publishes its Q4 2021 Dashboard¹ reporting the latest switching figures and trends. Between October and December 2021, 248,902 switches took place.

Switching volumes (personal and business) climbed in October (94,822) and November (90,857), before slowing in December (63,223) in the lead up to the festive period.

Over the last 12 months, a total of 782,223 switches were completed using the Current Account Switch Service bringing the total number of switches since its launch in 2013 to over 7.8 million. The service has also successfully redirected more than 117.1 million payments since inception.

Nationwide (33,828) had the largest net switching gain in Q3 2021 (participant data is collected three months in arrears) across the Current Account Switch Service’s 49 participants. This was followed by digital-first providers, Starling Bank (15,371) and Monzo Bank (6,498). Santander (4,372) and Virgin Money (3,377) take fourth and fifth place for net switching gains. The service also aided customers from Tesco Bank and M&S Bank who used it to switch away as those providers commenced withdrawing from the current account market in Q3 2021.

In the face of ongoing pandemic disruption, the service continued to perform well in Q4 2021, ensuring 99.7 per cent of switches were successfully completed within seven working days. Awareness and satisfaction of the service remained on target at 75 per cent and 91 per cent respectively.

While consumer switching trends are typically influenced by the cash incentives offered by individual participants, the latest data² for Q4 2021 also shows that service related, non-financial reasons, were the most significant contributors to people favouring their new current account once a switch had been completed. The top reasons cited included: better online banking facilities (51 per cent), sophisticated mobile or app-based banking systems (41 per cent) and improved customer service (38 per cent). Location of branches (24 per cent) and preferable account fees or charges (23 per cent) followed closely.

Of those who completed a switch in Q4 using the Current Account Switch Service 69 per cent said they prefer their new current account and only 3 per cent stated that their new account is worse. More than nine in ten (91 per cent) CASS users were satisfied with the switching process and 88 per cent would recommend using the service.

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