Current account customers are potentially losing out financially by not switching their account to another provider, Santander has said.

A survey conducted by Datamonitor for Santander showed that only seven per cent of current account holders had switched their provider during the last 12 months, lower than the levels for other accounts or products.

The ‘Switching in the UK’ report showed 39 per cent of car insurance customers had switched provider, 33 per cent of home insurance holders and 15 per cent of all savings account holders.

The bank said by not moving to a new provider, current account holders could be missing out on as much as £2.2billion in interest.

Rod Logan at Datamonitor said: “Consumers were much more likely to switch products like car or home insurance than current accounts, suggesting current account holders are unaware of the great deals available and so hold accounts with basic functionality and no extra benefits.”

Younger account holders are more likely to change their account, while those who have switched their current account are only likely to have done so once.

Head of current accounts at Santander, Gillian Almond said banks and building societies had become complacent because traditionally people had not moved their current account.

Santander is among the banks that offer a dedicated switching for moving current accounts to remove the hassle of changing a provider. The bank also currently offers £100 cashback to customers moving to its current account.

The Co-operative Bank is currently offering its Privilege Account, which normally carries a monthly charge, free for a year to encourage customers to switch their provider.

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