Researching into switching current accounts is less than a 60 minute task for UK consumers.
Consumers choose to spend less than an hour looking into current accounts.
Over half of British consumers spend less than an hour searching for a current account and looking at their switching options, according to a Datamonitor report conducted on behalf of Santander.
The research, called ‘Switching in the UK’, found that 51% of people spend more than an hour researching car insurance where as just 35% of consumers spend an hour looking into their current accounts.
The study also highlighted that Britons have spent a collective 3,504 years researching car insurance products over the course of the year, which is 2,136 hours more than they’ve spent on choosing a savings account. Just 785 years was spent on deciding which current account to switch to although men were found to spend 18 minutes longer researching into financial products than women.
Rod Logan from Datamonitor said: “It is interesting that people take so much longer to make a decision on car insurance or a savings account than a current account. This discrepancy is likely to result from the greater importance placed on getting a good deal for these other financial products. But many of these consumers probably don’t realise that nowadays picking the right current account can make a significant difference to their finances too, so by potentially rushing a decision they may be missing the benefits available”.
Santander is offering people who decide to switch their current account to the Spanish brand by December 12 with a £100 in cash back.
Gillian Almond, Head of Santander Current Accounts, said: “People have historically considered current accounts to be ‘free’ so they don’t see the incentive for switching and view it as an unnecessary hassle. However, if they looked into the current account market properly they would see that there are some highly significant switching incentives on offer, such as immediate cash incentives, better rewards and even preferential rates on other financial services products”.
