A report commissioned by Abbey National has shown that 65% of UK consumers believe changing their bank account would involve too much effort because of having to trasnfer direct debits and standing orders.
The research, carried out by YouGov on a sample of 3,740 UK adults, was undertaken to discover why people do not switch bank accounts and concerns over making transfers emerged as the number one reason.
Other grounds cited for the ‘banking inertia’ included that 29% of respondents fear that they would lose their personal banking contacts, 49% believe that there is little point in making the change as all banks are similar, and 26% believe that that the banks would not help them transfer. A further 8% said that they were locked in by monthly benefits.
Steve Shore, Abbey’s head of banking marketing, commented that people are more likely to change partner or move house than they are to switch bank accounts.
He said: It is fascinating that direct debits and standing orders functions which have helped people manage their accounts better seem to be driving bank inertia. The perception remains that account switching is complicated and ridden with potential pitfalls.
Mr Shore concluded that this is a misconception as direct debits and standing orders can be automatically transferred: Indeed, 90% of those surveyed who had moved banks stated it was very easy or fairly easy to switch to a new account.