Moving a current account sounds like a chore, but the UK has a dedicated service designed to do the heavy lifting. This article explains how it works, what official reviews found about how many people use it, and what to check before moving.
What is the Current Account Switch Service?
The Current Account Switch Service, usually shortened to CASS, is a free service designed to make it quicker and easier to move a current account from one provider to another. According to the government’s November 2016 response to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) retail banking investigation, it is run by the Bacs Payment Scheme. The CMA’s August 2023 service quality announcement describes it in plain terms: a free service available to anyone with a personal or business current account. That matters because many people assume switching is limited to those with a clean credit record or a simple set of payments. The service is intended for ordinary accounts with all the usual salary credits, standing orders and Direct Debits attached.
The same 2016 government document states that switching is designed to take seven days. In practice the service works to a timetable agreed with the new provider, and the customer chooses a start date.
How does a switch actually work?
The principle is that the new bank does the work. Rather than asking you to contact every employer, utility and subscription service, the new provider asks the old one to move the arrangements across. Direct Debits and standing orders are re-pointed to the new account, any remaining balance is transferred and the old account is closed.
Payments that arrive late are the usual worry. The CMA’s January 2017 announcement said the redirection service was to be extended, so that, in the CMA’s description, “all their payments will be switched from their old account to their new one”. The CMA saw doubt on exactly this point as a key concern about moving banks. The aim is that an old account number does not become useless overnight.
For the technical background on how money travels between accounts, see how modern bank transfers work.
Why do so few people switch?
The CMA’s January 2017 announcement put numbers on the inertia. It said only 3% of personal customers and 4% of business customers switch banks in a given year. Those figures are now several years old and should be read as a snapshot of the period, not a current rate.
Plausible reasons for staying put, which the CMA’s remedies targeted, include:
- Confidence. Fear that a payment will be missed or that something will go wrong.
- Effort. Even a managed switch requires identity checks and a new application.
- Perceived benefit. If an account feels free and works, the saving can seem too small to bother with.
- Awareness. Not everyone knows the service exists.
The CMA’s response was to require work on all four. It said Bacs would work with banks to raise awareness of and confidence in the service, focusing on people likely to benefit most, such as overdraft users and customers with high credit balances. The CMA also noted the service now has an independent chair, and that consumer groups and price comparison websites would be able to influence how it operates and promotes itself.
Is there a saving big enough to matter?
In the same January 2017 announcement the CMA estimated that personal customers in Great Britain could typically save £92 a year by switching, and small firms around £80 a year on average. It also said its 17 recommendations were expected to save customers between £700 million and £1 billion over five years.
These figures belong to the period of the investigation, and any individual saving depends on the accounts being compared. A worked illustration shows the scale of the claim:
| Item | Illustrative figure |
|---|---|
| Typical annual saving cited by the CMA (personal, Great Britain) | £92 |
| Same saving over five years, if unchanged | £460 |
| Equivalent monthly amount | about £7.67 |
The arithmetic is simple: £92 multiplied by five is £460, and £92 divided by twelve is £7.67. Whether an actual switch produces a gain of that order depends on overdraft use, balances, fees and any incentive on offer. For how those charges arise, read why banks charge different fees.
Who watches over the service?
Regulators have taken an interest in whether the service performs. The government’s 2016 response agreed with the CMA’s recommendation for regulatory oversight. HM Treasury said it would ask the Payment Systems Regulator to publish a report on the annual performance of CASS against agreed key performance indicators, including customer awareness and confidence. The Payment Systems Regulator was to consult the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and either regulator could take further action.
The CMA also publishes a service quality league table for current accounts. Its August 2023 edition covered July 2022 to June 2023 and was the 11th in six years. It drew on surveys of 16,046 personal current account customers in Great Britain and 18,000 business customers in Great Britain, asking how likely they would be to recommend their provider. Rankings of that kind are one input to a decision, though they measure satisfaction rather than price.
What should you check before moving?
Practical points apply whichever provider is chosen:
- Participation. Both providers need to be part of the service for the full switch to be available.
- Overdrafts. An overdraft at the old bank has to be dealt with. The new provider decides whether to offer credit, and a smaller limit or a refusal means the difference may need to be cleared separately.
- Regular payments. List salary, Direct Debits, standing orders and any payments from government bodies so that you can confirm they arrive afterwards.
- Deposit protection. If balances are large, check how deposit protection applies across the old and new institutions; how the £120,000 deposit protection limit works sets out the rules.
- Official payers. Some public bodies update details automatically. The Legal Aid Agency, for example, says that if a provider changed details through the service and is paid by Bacs, it will take steps to update bank details itself. The DVLA tells vehicle tax payers that most UK banks can move Direct Debits and that nothing more needs doing with the DVLA.
What if the switch is only partial?
Not every arrangement fits neatly into the service. Payments that are not Direct Debits or standing orders, such as card-on-file subscriptions, are tied to the card rather than the account and need separate attention. The DVLA also advises that if you move a Direct Debit to an account you already hold, rather than switching through the service, you should contact it with your new details at least five working days before the next scheduled payment.
A useful habit after any switch is to review every recurring cost over the next two billing cycles. The approach in why recurring costs deserve scrutiny works well for this, because a missed payment is far easier to correct early.
Switching in context: a decision worth testing, not assuming
Account switching remains a low-friction way to change provider, backed by a free, regulated process that officials have repeatedly sought to strengthen. The evidence reviewed here suggests the barrier is more about confidence and awareness than about the mechanics. Whether moving makes sense depends on the specifics of the accounts involved, so the useful step is to compare actual charges, interest and service levels, and confirm the terms with the provider.
This is general information, not personalised financial advice. Rules, rates and services change, so check current details with your provider.
Sources: GOV.UK; Competition and Markets Authority; HM Treasury; Legal Aid Agency; DVLA
