Laura Whitcombe

Beat bank closures by switching to a better deal

Within the space of a week, it has been announced that another 189 high street banks and building societies will be shutting their doors through the course of 2017.

Last week, Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank outlined plans to close 79 branches. On Tuesday, HSBC reported it will close another 62 branches on top of the 55 previously announced. And yesterday, Yorkshire Building Society admitted it will be closing 48 branches, including all 28 Norwich & Peterborough branches as it goes ahead with killing off the brand completely. Existing N&P current account holders have been told to find alternative accounts.

The companies have largely attributed the closures to customers increasingly turning to their online services. However, if your local branch is affected and you would prefer a new bricks and mortar bank account, the good news is the Current Account Switch Service is at your disposal.

Set up in 2013, it enables customers to switch their bank accounts easily and pretty quickly between the vast majority of providers. Once you have identified where you want to move, you simply ask your new bank to move across your existing account using the service. It will do most of the legwork for you – such as moving all your direct debits and your overdraft – and it’s all meant to happen within seven working days. There’s also a guarantee element of the service that means should anything go wrong with the switch and you incur any fees, you’ll be refunded.

Yesterday it emerged that more than 3 million accounts have already been switched using the service since 2013, which is currently being advertised on national TV in a bid to get more of us moving our accounts. This is because the number of switchers only accounts for less than 5 per cent of the approximately 70 million active current accounts in the UK.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Keep reading with a free trial

Subscribe and get your first month of online and app access for free. After that it’s just £1 a week.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

Or

Unlock more articles

REGISTER

Comments

Don't miss out

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.

Already a subscriber? Log in