Published at 14:08, Friday, 08 June 2012

Despite high levels of complaints about banks and their services, a high proportion of UK banking customers continue to remain loyal to their current bank.

A very small proportion of banking customers ‘vote with their feet’ by moving their current account to another provider. Slightly more think about switching but decide against it, but the majority of people don’t even consider moving their business elsewhere.

This is in contrast to other sectors such as energy, telecoms and home insurance in which switching is much more common.

There is a distinct reluctance, if not fear, among customers of switching their current account, with concerns such as the possible costs they would incur if the switching process goes wrong, the perceived hassle involved and the fear of a negative impact on credit ratings.

Worryingly, many people who think about switching are not actually happy with their bank but, despite this, are still reluctant to seek out a better service elsewhere. Others feel there is little or no difference between banks, suggesting they think switching would bring few, if any, benefits.

In a review of personal current account switching, Sarah Brooks, head of financial services at Consumer Focus, said “For too many people, switching current accounts simply does not enter their mind, even if their bank has let them down.

“Until more people are prepared to vote with their feet, there will not be enough pressure on banks to improve their performance. Complaints against banks are persistently at an unacceptably high level. We need to promote switching and make it less error-prone if we are to force the banks to raise their game.”

Although on the face of it a typical current account service can appear pretty much standard fare, I firmly believe there is a world of difference in some important aspects of the service on offer.

A resurgence in the public appetite for a quality, personal, fair and friendly service has become increasingly clear in recent times, and some current account providers are better equipped to deliver this type of service than others. A service of this nature may be much lower on your list of priorities, with more impersonal features such as internet banking and pricing more appealing to you. Either way, you need to select the appropriate provider for you.

So, if a quality banking service is important to you, don’t assume all providers are the same, and understand that the switching service costs nothing and is designed to be as simple and painless as possible. Choose a new current account provider you believe will give you what you are looking for and leave the job of switching your account to them. It really is easier than you think.

Visit the website at www.cumberland.co.uk.

Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk