Fewer current account customers in Northern Ireland abandoned their bank provider in the first three months of 2025, according to a switching service.
Some 1,399 customers closed their accounts at the north’s four main clearing banks between January 1 and March 31, figures from the Current Account Switch Service (Cass) show.
That’s down more than a third on the numbers switching away on the previous quarter (2,031).
Over the period covered by Cass, Ulster Bank was the biggest loser with 487 customers using its service to move to another provider, although this was down from 780 on the previous quarter).
AIB Group (UK) had 414customer defections while Bank of Ireland lost 311 accounts and Danske Bank 187. The respective previous quarter figures for the three were 463, 357 and 431.
In the UK as a whole, June was the strongest month this year so far for current account customers moving to a new provider, with some 88,146 switches.
The latest figures indicate that Nationwide Building Society was the biggest “winner” from customers using the service between January and March 2025.
Figures provided voluntarily by banks and building societies showed that Nationwide made the highest switching gains among customers using Cass to move their account in the first quarter of this year.
Nationwide was followed by Monzo (a gain of 8,850) and HSBC UK (up 5,621).
Halifax was the biggest loser with 15,707 customers moving away, followed by NatWest with 13,086 defections.
Customers using Cass to switch their current account automatically have payments moved over to the new account and get the benefits of a guarantee that they will not be left out of pocket if anything goes wrong with the switch.
Some current account switches take place outside of Cass and the figures provided do not include those switches.
Andrew Hagger, a personal finance expert from Moneycomms.co.uk, said Nationwide had “outperformed its peers by a country mile”, adding: “It had a £175 switching incentive in place for the whole of the three months in question, which no doubt helped boost recruitment, however the £100 annual fairer share payment is no doubt also having a positive impact on customer retention.”
Nationwide also has a “branch promise” and 5.7 million customers visited its branches last year – a 4% annual increase.
Since the Cass switching service launched in 2013, it has facilitated more than 11.9 million switches and redirected in excess of 166.8 million payments (Yui Mok/PA)
Since the switching service launched in 2013, it has facilitated more than 11.9 million switches and redirected in excess of 166.8 million payments.
Cass said customer research indicates that access to online or mobile app-based banking is the most frequently cited reason for preferring a new account, followed by interest earned, customer service, spending benefits and account fees or charges.
John Dentry, product owner at Pay.UK, owner and operator of Cass, said: “The fact that the top three spots are occupied by a legacy bank, long-standing building society and a neobank shows the depth and diversity of the UK banking system.
“With nearly a million switches in the past 12 months, the Current Account Switch Service continues to play a key role in facilitating a healthy and competitive banking market. I look forward to seeing how the landscape evolves across the latter half of this year.”