Despite knowing the benefits of switching, too many Brits refuse to switch bank accounts. And I’m part of the problem, writes Samuel Norman in today’s Notebook
The confessions of a banking reporter
With much of my time spent chewing over the issues in the banking sector, last week I had a stark realisation that I was a part of one of the biggest issues: across the country, we often find ourselves bound to our bank account.
Banks are not like a Spotify or Apple Music account, that you can switch on the month depending your preference. Yet there is a vast array of different providers on offer, each catering to different needs and demographics – so I ask, why do we find ourselves shackled to the same account for years on end?
It’s a question I ask every time a fresh batch of data comes across my desk demonstrating Brits’ undying loyalty to their banking provider, like last month when media group 3Gem released a report showing nearly two thirds of people feel disappointed when their bank cuts rates or perks, yet four in ten have never switched accounts. Or when data from Dragonpass came out, showing 64 per cent of UK adults have been with their bank for over 10 years, despite a third of those believing other services providers are more suited.
A nation of nitwits, I sigh, as I type away.
And yet, I realise, I am among them: this lazy breed of self-saboteurs. My savings account – with a certain unnamed bank – has been the bane of my life for months: a barely functional app, a shockingly poor selection of perks and a severe lack of convenient features considering how much the digital banking space has evolved over the few years.
And yet here I am, having barely lifted a finger for four years. Once I finally mustered up the effort to change it, I had to wait as I was moving addresses.
I still haven’t finished the big switch, and it’s myself who feels the consequences. The banks are hardly the villain in this scenario for our lacklustre efforts to chase a better deal. Instead we must confront our own laziness.
For my part, though, I’ll be going easier on bank loyalists. As in the Gospel of John so is it in banking reporting: let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
Government could use a dose of Gaga
Watching Lady Gaga at the O2 last week I could only hope the Treasury was also in attendance. Maybe the beat of Judas would convince Rachel Reeves not to betray the banks with a fresh levy in November. Though she may prefer A Million Reasons – such is what she will give when she is expected to hike taxes next month. Perhaps the biggest shame is that the government is unable to click play on Abracadabra and magic up its economic growth mission.
Not every finance bro is in a rush
Navigating around the City sometimes feels like a more dangerous game of Frogger, trying not to collide with commuters, cars and – of course – Lime bikes. But, I plead, can the frantic rush be left outside the lunch hour spots? As big a fan of burritos as I am, I feel I blackout the minute I enter Tortilla or Chipotle and am ushered onto the conveyor belt of meat, rice, beans and slaw decisions, with hardly a second to think about what I actually want. Perhaps this is suited to the grind-committed City workers, but it can’t be good for our digestion.
Sushidog has the City on a leash
As a top sushi fan I have had Sushidog recommended to me for some time and last week finally took the bait. Their outpost in Bank did not disappoint – and I even had the luxury of ordering on a screen to avoid being rushed! Whilst many places are far too scarce on filling, there was a moment I was not convinced the staff member would be able to fold my roll – rest assured, she did. There’s a wide variety of options to switch it up, meaning I’ll have no choice but to return to gradually tick off each and every one and it welcomely fills the void of on-the-go sushi places in the City. I do recommend a side of chewing gum for when returning to the office, though.
End the wireless headphone epidemic – or make better ones
The one easy retreat from the chaos of the City is escaping into your headphones, but only if they are actually working. I bought into the wireless headphone trend and now feel burdened with a pair that makes more error noises than it does music – and that’s if they can bother to connect properly. When did we decide they were the better option to wired headphones? What is even the appeal, when they create a new problem of needing to charge them? What joy then to discover that, according to the glossies, wired headphones are back in style, hailed by the likes of fashion set bigwigs Bella Hadid, Emily Ratajkowski and, I’m glad to announce, now me.
Samuel Norman is City AM’s City reporter