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NatWest and RBS customers are already believed to be looking for alternative current account providers following the RBS Group's computer systems failure, which has caused huge disruption to normal banking services.
Comparison website Moneynet.co.uk has reported a 10% jump in the number of visitors to its current account pages over the past seven days compared with levels seen during the the rest of 2012.
Spokesman Andrew Hagger said: "It looks as if the NatWest problems could be good news for its competitors. Usually customers are apathetic when it comes to switching to a new bank, but it's no surprise that those suffering major inconvenience are starting to consider their options."
Although other websites say traffic has been steady, they say this is probably because NatWest and RBS customers erroneously believe they cannot start switching accounts until the IT problems which have prevented the updating of their account balances, transactions and withdrawal of cash have been solved.
Nationwide building society said an increase in applications from NatWest and RBS customers by the end of the week was likely, but added it had experienced no problems with switching accounts from NatWest and RBS since 19 June when the problems began. In the 2011/12 financial year, 19% of new Nationwide current account customers switched from Santander, 16% from Lloyds, 14% from Barclays, 13% from HSBC, 12% from NatWest and 11% from Halifax.
Many readers posting underneath Guardian stories about the problems suffered by NatWest and RBS customers have threatened to switch accounts as soon as possible.
One posting under the name of chingwu said: "Seriously considering moving my account to the co-op. Refusing my wife's card, yet oddly all direct debit's went out as normal. Not a happy bunny!"
Another called Zackjones said: "Anyone who continues to bank with NatWest after this is a fool."
Hagger suggests a number of different current accounts for customers with different banking habits. For those who always keep their accounts in credit he recommends the Halifax Reward Current account, which pays the customer £5 each month as long as he or she credits the account with £1,000 a month. However, this account should be avoided by those who sometimes go overdrawn as the charges are very high.
He added: "Take a look at the 123 Current Account from Santander which pays interest on credit balances over £1,000, plus you get cashback on household bills paid by direct debit."
If you often go overdrawn you could consider First Direct where the first £250 is interest free and it charges a competitive 15.9% above that. You must put at least £1,500 a month into this account. First Direct is also likely to appeal to those whose priority is now excellent customer service: the bank won the 2012 Which? award for Best Financial Services Provider for its consistently high levels of customer satisfaction, good products and services, as well as clear information for customers.
Nationwide's FlexAccount also has a lower than average overdraft rate of 18.9% plus free European travel insurance and good loyalty deals for current account customers.
For those wanting a debit card that incurs low charges when used abroad, Hagger suggests the Gold current account from Norwich & Peterborough building society or Metro Bank's standard current account: neither levy charges on foreign transactions.
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Comments
25 June 2012 3:08PM
When I used to work in offices in London, if anything pissed people off such as a poor pay rise the first thing they would do would be to get the free Ms London and 9-5 magazines from the tube station.
Now that is going back, mid-90s, but they would sit and huff and flick and show everyone that they were very angry and were actively looking for a new job, even though they had been in the same one since the dawn of time.
Then, after a couple of weeks the magazines and huffing would disappear for another 12 months or until they were upset by someone again.
What I am getting at is that this may make people huff and flick through in anger to show NatWest they mean business, but hardly any will actually swap and this will all blow over in a couple of days.
It is a little unfair of me as I have been with First Direct for 21 years, but being as I have never had one problem with them in that time I can't really fault them.
Yes the current account has 0% interest and the savings 0.25%, but you don't save with them they are just for a 0% hassle current account.
Flick. Huff.
25 June 2012 4:17PM
Let's see how many people actually put the effort into moving their account... I believe the vast majority are just way too lazy.
25 June 2012 4:29PM
A 10% rise in searches for current accounts? Sounds like a barely noticeable eddy in cyberspace. Normally with a big event like this I'd expect a 3 digit increase. I bet only 1% of those searching will actually move as the above posters have said.
25 June 2012 4:39PM
The 10% uplift in potential switchers is not that significant. What IS more interesting is the Nationwide annual figures: clearly Santander is head and shoulders above all the others in narking their customers enough to compel them to switch. The other, bigger, banks seem to fair equally. As a long term, but frustrated customer of Santander I switched to First Direct years ago and the service is incomparable. Santander didn't even raise an eyebrow when a 30+ years customer clears out his accounts. They rightly deserve to be top of the list of banks delivering poor service. They can update their mission statements but they still don't give a fig for actually improving.
25 June 2012 4:41PM
Oh.. and I dumped NatWest 15 years ago for my business too. Their legacy IT systems and old practices were just stifling.
25 June 2012 5:55PM
a month or so ago on a friday after school I took my son to the local Nat West along with his birth cert and passport to open an account. He is 11. On the way I told him about this being an important part of his life and it was the start of him learning how to manage money properly.
We queued and when we got to the desk the assistant looked proper fed up that this was what we wanted to do. There was a short delay and she then said I'm sorry there is no one here who can open an account for you, you'll have to make an appointment to come back another day.
Suffice to say as we left the branch my son had learned his first lesson about the UK banks, their general levels of customer service and how to be a savvy consumer. Nat West lost a future customer for life.
25 June 2012 6:31PM
Be careful where you move your account to though as other banks are using similar cost cutting methods and could have the same issues n
25 June 2012 6:32PM
Sums up the stereotype of UK business - Piss-poor management, whining and apathy.
25 June 2012 6:35PM
Why do they keep calling this catastrophe a "computer glitch"?
It's human error, pure and simple!
26 June 2012 5:49PM
If only people would ditch Nat West/ RBS in serious numbers.
If it really went tits up they would only tap up the UK taxpayers again with the begging bowl.
26 June 2012 10:48PM
While people are considering switching anyway, how about pushing the ethical banking angle and encouraging people to move to banks like the Coop ?
28 June 2012 11:46AM
But of course if they go to the Coop they will have to use a premium rate number almost every time they phone them up.