Bank switching: Nationwide the big winner as customers ditch Santander

The latest current account switching figures reveal the banks most people are switching to – and those that are losing customers by the bucketload.

The number of customers ditching their existing bank in favour of a rival provider has jumped sharply in the last three months.

That’s according to the latest quarterly figures from the Current Account Switch Service (CASS).

It found that almost 310,000 people moved their main bank account between October and December 2024, notably higher than the 248,000 who did so in the previous quarter.

While it's interesting to see the latest switching trends overall from CASS, the really useful stats can be found by looking into the specific banks and building societies that gained and lost the most customers.

This gives us a clearer idea of which banks are winning and losing as a result of all this switching activity.

The data is provided by Pay UK, the retail payments authority.

As it takes a while to pull these together, the latest stats available are for the third quarter of 2024, running from July to September.

Here’s what these stats reveal.

The banks we are all switching to

Nationwide was the biggest winner, with a net gain of 22,622 bank customers. 

This follows on from a similarly strong second quarter, when it brought in 22,894 new sign-ups, finishing second only to Santander (more on them later).

So what's driven its strong performance?

One factor was likely the positive publicity around its Fairer Share promotion, which saw the building society hand £100 back to every member and give them exclusive access to a top savings account.

While this took place in June, it likely led to a number of new subscribers between July and September from those hoping to be eligible for any 2025 payout.

Another big driver was the juicy current account cash bribe on offer over the quarter, with the building society paying £175 to people who joined it in September.

In the past, factors like customer service or distance to the nearest branch might have been the main factors influencing switchers, but these days it's all about these joining incentives.

You'll regularly see companies soaring up the charts in any quarter when they have juicy bonuses on offer.

As a case in point, the second biggest winner over the quarter was Barclays after being the worst performer in the previous three months.

It added more than 18,000 net new customers, thanks largely to a £175 switching offer that ran in July and August.

You can see the full list of banks that managed to grow their customer base in the table below.

The banks we're all joining

The worst-performing banks

Santander had the opposite performance to Barclays, going from the best performer to worst in the latest quarter as it lost more than 19,000 customers.

This was most likely because it offered no new incentives between July and September, having previously paid people £185 to join.

NatWest fared only slightly better, losing 18,322 net customers over the three-month period, with Halifax (14,898) the only other big loser.

You can see a full breakdown of the biggest losers in the table below.

The banks we're ditching

Switching bonus requirements getting stricter

As mentioned earlier, it's clearly switching incentives that play the biggest role in the switching merry-go-round.

There is a sizeable number of savvy Brits who switch habitually to whichever brand has the biggest offer going.

The banks have responded to this trend by making it harder to qualify for these bungs in the hopes of deterring serial switchers looking to simply bag the bonus and run.

You'll regularly see requirements like setting up multiple Direct Debits, transferring money into the account and spending on the card in order to get the joining bonus.

It's worth keeping this in mind if you're thinking of taking advantage of one of these generous bungs.

Speaking of which, you can view our roundup of the best bonuses here.

At present, you can get up to £175 from the likes of First Direct, Nationwide and Santander.

No doubt you'll be seeing all these brands soaring up the switching charts in future months.

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