More Britons move banks as new rules speed up process

* Number of customers switching increased by 14 percent

* New rules part of measures to increase competition

LONDON, April 11 (Reuters) - New rules making it easier for Britons to switch banks resulted in a 14 percent increase in the number of customers moving accounts in the six months since they were introduced, the Payments Council said on Friday.

The new rules, introduced last October, ensure customers can switch accounts within seven working days with all outgoing and incoming payments automatically transferred.

They are part of a range of measures designed to break the dominance of Britain's four biggest banks - Lloyds Banking Group , Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS.L - news) , Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) and HSBC - which between them provide three-quarters of all UK personal current accounts.

The Payments Council, which is responsible for the new service, said 609,300 accounts had been moved in the six months since the rules were introduced compared with 532,500 the year before. It also said more than two-thirds of Britons were now aware of the new rules.

"There's been a noticeable surge of advertising activity from current account providers big and small, suggesting the new service is helping foster competition and choice for customers," said Gary Hocking, managing director of the Payments Council.

Lawmakers and regulators believe a lack of choice has been a factor behind scandals such as the mis-selling of loan insurance and complex interest rate hedging products, which have cost banks around 25 billion pounds ($42 billion) in compensation. ($1 = 0.5971 British Pounds) (Reporting by Matt Scuffham. Editing by Jane Merriman)