Yahoo Finance Nationwide wins current account switching battle with record 163,000 customers after £200 offer
Nationwide stormed ahead of its rivals by setting a record for UK current account switches in the final three months of last year, according to new data, as intense competition for deposits among lenders continues into 2024.
Figures published by the Current Account Switch Service (CASS) showed it facilitated 320,364 switches between January and March, bringing its total to 10.6m since it launched in 2013.
Quarterly switches hit a record 433,701 between last October and December as banks offered cash incentives to compete for new deposits.
The number of switching offers has fallen in 2024, with HSBC, Natwest, Santander and First Direct all pulling deals this month. Lenders typically offer these deals when they want to attract new customers or expect existing ones to be actively shopping around.
Out of the 53 banks and building societies available through the CASS, Nationwide had the highest net switching gains at 163,363 between last October and December.
This figure smashed the previous record for a quarterly net gain of 111,941, also set by Nationwide in the final three months of 2022.
Last September, Nationwide relaunched a market-leading £200 current account bonus for new and existing customers who switched their main banking relationship to the building society. It pulled the offer in December.
The deal also included a savings account paying eight per cent. According to financial information website Moneyfacts, the last time a cash regular savings account offered the same rate was in 2013.
Nationwide was followed in Thursday’s rankings by Barclays with 12,823 net switching gains and Lloyds Bank with 5,800.
Lenders with the biggest net switching losses during the three months were Natwest with 43,182, Halifax with 41,144 and Santander UK with 34,581.
Small businesses and charities have seen a 10 per cent year-on-year increase in switching, with 7,075 during the first quarter.
A survey of more than 2,000 people conducted by the CASS found 41 per cent named online or mobile app banking as the top reason for preferring their new account, keeping up a trend seen throughout last year.
The other most important factors included interest earned (33 per cent), customer service (28 per cent) and location of branches (23 per cent).
“Cash incentives continue to be a highly effective way for banks to attract customers, but as we repeatedly see through our data, online or mobile app banking remains the top reason why people prefer their new account,” said John Dentry, product owner at Pay.UK, which owns and operates the CASS.
“The end of the financial year may have contributed to a spike in switching from businesses, as many spring clean their finances and set themselves up for a successful year ahead.”
Around 90 per cent of survey respondents said they were satisfied with their switch, with 76 per cent preferring their new account to their old one and just two per cent saying it was worse.
