Current accounts can offer a number of different perks, including better interest rates, switching offers and overdrafts. We look at the latest current account statistics, including how many people are switching and the top reasons for doing so.
In the first half of 2023, there were nearly 700,000 current account switches. In 2022, nearly 1 million people switched their current account.
The number of current account switches was up by 76% in April-June 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. There were less than 200,000 current account switches in the second quarter of 2022, but there were almost 340,000 in the same quarter of 2023.
The quarterly number of current account switches over the past 2 years peaked in the last 3 months of 2022, with a total of over 376,000 switches.
| Quarter | Number of switches |
|---|---|
| Q1 2021 | 137,976 |
| Q2 2021 | 182,745 |
| Q3 2021 | 212,600 |
| Q4 2021 | 248,902 |
| Q1 2022 | 196,964 |
| Q2 2022 | 191,777 |
| Q3 2022 | 222,108 |
| Q4 2022 | 376,107 |
| Q1 2023 | 341,075 |
| Q2 2023 | 338,194 |
There were 114,139 current account switches in June 2023, an 81.9% increase from June 2022, when there were just 62,736 switches. March 2023 has seen the most current account switches so far in 2023, with over 150,000 switches happening in just one month.
| Month | Total switches |
|---|---|
| Jan 2023 | 65,976 |
| Feb 2023 | 119,983 |
| March 2023 | 155,116 |
| April 2023 | 118,755 |
| May 2023 | 105,300 |
| June 2023 | 114,139 |
Most switches are for personal current accounts. In June 2023, for example, 98.4% of the current accounts that switched were personal ones, and just 1.6% were charity or small business accounts. In every month from June 2022 to June 2023, over 96% of current accounts that switched were personal accounts.
| Month | % personal | % small business/charity |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 2023 | 97.2 | 2.8 |
| Feb 2023 | 98.3 | 1.7 |
| March 2023 | 98.4 | 1.6 |
| April 2023 | 98.3 | 1.7 |
| May 2023 | 98.1 | 1.9 |
| June 2023 | 98.4 | 1.6 |
Whilst the majority of current account switches are with a guarantee, in June 2023, nearly 2,000 people switched their current accounts without a guarantee.
Switching with a guarantee means that your new bank account switches over your current account, payments and balance, and your old bank closes your old account for you. If you switch without a guarantee, your new bank doesn’t do this for you.
The number of people switching without a guarantee in June 2023 increased by 51.6% from June 2022. Switching with a guarantee is still far more common, though, as in June 2023, over 100,000 current accounts switched with a guarantee.
| Month | Switches with Guarantee | Switches without Guarantee |
|---|---|---|
| June 2022 | 61,635 | 1,101 |
| July 2022 | 56,060 | 1,144 |
| Aug 2022 | 73,189 | 1,270 |
| Sep 2022 | 89,257 | 1,188 |
| Oct 2022 | 115,721 | 2,706 |
| Nov 2022 | 154,647 | 2,729 |
| Dec 2022 | 99,300 | 1,004 |
| Jan 2023 | 64,879 | 1,097 |
| Feb 2023 | 118,759 | 1,224 |
| March 2023 | 153,377 | 1,739 |
| April 2023 | 117,193 | 1,562 |
| May 2023 | 103,626 | 1,674 |
| June 2023 | 112,470 | 1,669 |
Switching rates were up by 26% in 2022 compared to 2021, going from around 782,000 to almost 1 million. The switching rates for 2023 are looking strong, too, with over 800,000 switches happening between January and July, already beating the total for 2021.
The most common reason for switching bank accounts was for better online or mobile app banking, with 41% of people switching for that reason.
Other common reasons for people switching current accounts are to get the better interest earned on their new current account and improved customer service, with 29% of people switching because of each of these reasons.
Another popular reason for switching current accounts is dissatisfaction with account fees or charges, with 25% of people switching for this reason.
| Reason | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Online or mobile app banking | 41 |
| Customer service | 29 |
| Interest earned | 29 |
| Account fees or charges | 25 |
In the first quarter of 2023, Natwest gained nearly 50,000 customers through CASS (the current account switch service), while Nationwide lost over 30,000 customers.
HSBC came in second place in the switching wars, gaining over 28,000 customers through CASS, while Lloyds took third place with over 10,000 current account switches.
Meanwhile, Halifax lost a significant number of customers through CASS, at over 21,000, closely followed by Barclays, which lost 18,655.
| Bank | Customers gained | Customers lost |
|---|---|---|
| Natwest | 45,651 | |
| HSBC | 28,486 | |
| Lloyds | 10,959 | |
| RBS | 4,165 | |
| Santander | 4,092 | |
| TSB | 3,269 | |
| Starling Bank | 299 | |
| Triodos Bank | 93 | |
| Ulster Bank | 77 | |
| Bank of Ireland | -322 | |
| Danske | -366 | |
| AIB Group (UK) p.l.c | -866 | |
| Co-operative | -1,359 | |
| Bank of Scotland | -2,458 | |
| Virgin Money | -6,240 | |
| Monzo Bank Limited | -7,635 | |
| Barclays | -18,655 | |
| Halifax | -21,322 | |
| Nationwide | -34,259 |
UK account providers will ask you to read and sign a terms and conditions document before opening an account with them. This is a legal agreement so it’s important to understand what you are agreeing to. Terms and conditions documents can vary in length and content, so we analysed the account terms for 16 of the most popular providers to find out how long they take to read and how easy they are to understand.
| Response | Complexity score (higher means more complex) |
|---|---|
| TSB | 4.4 |
| Starling | 4 |
| Santander | 6.8 |
| Revolut | 5 |
| RBS | 7 |
| Natwest | 6.6 |
| Nationwide | 5 |
| Monzo | 6.5 |
| Lloyds | 8 |
| Kroo | 6.5 |
| Halifax | 7.5 |
| HSBC | 7.5 |
| First Direct | 5 |
| Co-op | 7 |
| Chase | 6 |
| Barclays | 7 |
Based on factors including length, structure, clarity of content and accessibility, the average complexity score for a UK account was 6.2 out of 10. You can see the account providers with the most and least complex terms and conditions in the table above.
| Response | Time in minutes |
|---|---|
| TSB | 67 |
| Starling | 34 |
| Santander | 116 |
| Revolut | 46 |
| RBS | 49 |
| Natwest | 83 |
| Nationwide | 87 |
| Monzo | 18 |
| Lloyds | 92 |
| Kroo | 53 |
| Halifax | 97 |
| HSBC | 75 |
| First Direct | 69 |
| Co-op | 49 |
| Chase | 35 |
| Barclays | 69 |
We also calculated the average time to read the terms and conditions for each UK account provider. The reading time for these terms and conditions based on the reading speed of a typical person comes in at an impressive 65 minutes – that’s the time it takes to read the document from start to finish. That’s a decent chunk of your day!
We assessed the terms and conditions across 16 of the most popular UK account providers.
The complexity score of the terms and conditions for each UK account was calculated by looking at the following criteria: length and structure, language and clarity, technical terms and legal jargon, content coverage and detail, accessibility and user-friendliness. These were then combined to give an overall complexity score out of 10.
The reading time of the terms and conditions for each UK account was calculated by dividing the word count of the document by the number of words that the average person reads per minute.
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