KPMG comments on today's Money and Credit Data from The Bank of England

Pay UK current account switching data

There were 341,075 current account switches in Q1 2023, the highest total ever. Switches took place across 48 participating banks and building societies.

Karim Haji, Head of Financial Services at KPMG in the UK, said: “Traditional UK consumer inertia around switching banking providers has completely shifted, in part due to the cost-of-living crisis. Consumers are doing their due diligence into which banks can offer them the best perks, joining bonuses and customer service.

“Banks should note that incentives are largely behind the switching volumes and are clearly increasingly valued by consumers as validated by KPMG research which found that cashback on monthly bills was the most attractive perk offered by a bank (39%) with competitive interest rates being the second most popular (37%) down from 51% last year.  UK consumers are learning that swapping banks is straightforward, rapidly eroding decades of inertia to switching that UK consumers have shown and presenting new challenges to the incumbent retail banks.”

Survey conducted, on behalf of KPMG UK by One Poll in November 2022, with a nationally representative sample size of 2,000 UK Adults.