More people than ever switched their current account to a new bank at the end of 2023, snapping up bonuses of up to £200 ahead of Christmas.
Between October and December 2023, 433,701 bank account switches took place – the highest quarterly figure on record, figures from the Current Account Switch Service (Cass) show.
November saw the highest total number of monthly switches since the service was launched over ten years ago, with 162,637 taking place.
This brings the the total number of switches since September 2013 to 10.2million.
Switching rush: More customers than ever rushed to switch bank account in three months according to the Current Account Switching Service
Customer data, which is three months in arrears, shows that high street giant NatWest saw the highest net switching gains, reeling in 59,158 more customers than it lost for switches completed between July and September 2023.
This is the second quarter in a row that NatWest saw the most net switching customer gains. Between 1 April and 31 June of this year NatWest gained 99,695 more customers than it lost.
It is followed by HSBC, which gained 25,037 more customers than it lost. HSBC includes First Direct brand switches. TSB gained 15,754 more customers than it lost between July and September 2023.
NatWest, HSBC and TSB were all offering hefty switching bonuses of £200 between July and September 2023.
Commenting on the figures, Andrew Hagger, founder of personal finance website MoneyComms, says: ‘The latest Cass figures once again confirm that offering a cash incentive drives new business, with NatWest gaining a net 59,158 switching customers, HSBC gaining 25,037 net and TSB gaining 15,754 net.
‘All were offering a £200 payment for switchers during the third quarter of 2023.
‘HSBC and NatWest offered £200 for much of 2023 and is reflected in their strong performance in 2023 with NatWest adding a net 204,504 customers in the first nine months of last year with HSBC adding 75,652 during the same period.’
Challenger banks Monzo and Starling saw net losses of 3,197 and 1,999 respectively.
None of these challenger banks offer cash bonuses to switching customers.
High street bank Santander saw the highest net losses, losing 27,604 more customers than it was able to reel in.
| Bank | Gains | Losses | Net gains |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank of Scotland | 2,731 | 4,204 | -1,473 |
| Barclays | 4,927 | 29,030 | -24,103 |
| Halifax | 27,732 | 44,06 | -16,334 |
| HSBC | 68,360 | 43,323 | 25,037 |
| J.P. Morgan CHASE | 6,135 | 6,275 | -140 |
| Lloyds Bank | 27,762 | 30,888 | -3,126 |
| Monzo Bank | 13,531 | 16,72 | -3,197 |
| Nationwide | 12,995 | 29,498 | -16,503 |
| NatWest | 94,796 | 35,638 | 59,158 |
| RBS | 18,151 | 11,769 | 6,382 |
| Santander | 9,371 | 36,976 | -27,604 |
| Starling Bank | 9,705 | 11,704 | -1,999 |
| TSB | 28,769 | 13,015 | 15,754 |
| Ulster Bank | 4,195 | 2,310 | 1,895 |
| Virgin Money | 2,153 | 9,161 | -7,008 |
| Source: CASS | |||
Why are so many people switching?
The Cass says elevated switching figures may indicate that both consumers and businesses are re-evaluating their existing accounts amid ongoing economic uncertainty.
Account holders may be exploring banks and building societies that provide more tailored services or promotional offers that better suited their needs, it said.
But it is far more likely that savers were keen to bag switching bonuses before they disappeared, and flocked to those banks which were offering them.
Hagger says: ‘Nationwide had it’s £200 offer with an 8 per cent regular saver deal available from the beginning of this quarter until 23 December, and I’m sure this would have been very popular.’
Is this the end of the £200 switching bonus?
NatWest, Nationwide, HSBC and TSB were all offering hefty switching bonuses of £200 at different points in 2023.
Now, the highest switching bonus customers are able to find is £175, offered by First Direct.
Hagger says: ‘The number of switching offers has tailed off in 2024 with only First Direct (£175) and TSB (£125) currently putting up cash rewards for bank switchers.
‘Whether this is just a lull or maybe the beginning of the end for cash incentives, time will tell, but without the incentives it’s highly likely that switching numbers will fade.’
