Four in five consumers moot bank provider 'switch'

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Four in five consumers moot bank provider 'switch'

Mon 5th Mar 2007

Almost 80 per cent of consumers are prepared to switch to a smaller financial provider, new research from Fool.co.uk shows.

A survey of more than 1,000 consumers, carried out by the independent personal finance website, indicates that customers of the big five high street banks, including HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds TSB, HBOS and Royal Bank of Scotland, say they are ready to switch.

Seasoned customers with the big banks are also not afraid of upping sticks, with a third of the consumers having been with their banks for over 20 years.

Commenting upon a "tremendous tension" between banks and their customers, David Kuo, head of personal finance at the website, cited "huge annual profits" of the banks as reason for the friction.

"The prospect of customer backlash is likely to buy us some time before banks actually carry out their threat of imposing fees," he said.

Mr Kuo added: "For now, customers need to be vigilant against stealth charges, which may present themselves in the form of fees for credit cards, poorer rates on interest-bearing accounts and elevated overdraft costs."

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