Cost of living: Cash bonuses behind record number of bank switches

By Kevin Peachey

Cost of living correspondent

A record number of people switched their custom to a different bank in the final three months of last year.

Cash incentives led thousands of people to move their current accounts, as they sought extra income to help pay bills and deal with rising prices.

Up to 200 was offered by some banks to switching customers.

A total of 376,107 accounts were moved between October and December - the highest since a seven-day switching service began in 2013.

However, that still only represented a fraction of the millions of current accounts being used by individuals, small businesses and charities in the UK. That suggests many less financially engaged customers - who could benefit the most from switching - may not have been involved.

Sticky customers

The Current Account Switching Service (CASS) oversees the seven-day system, which sees details of direct debits and other regular payments automatically adopted by a moving customer's new bank.

Payments accidentally made to or requested from the old account are automatically redirected to the new account.