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Enough is enough, says the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), which has threatened to investigate banks who refuse to improve the service they offer customers. 

 

The monopoly of the big UK banks is a perennial problem that various government bodies have tried to solve.  OFT says it will focus on the length of time it takes customers to switch accounts and force banks to create a ‘safety net’ which catches any direct debits dropped during the transition period.

 

Unfortunately, history has taught us that this intervention will make no difference.  The problem here is not banking apathy, it is customer apathy to banking.

 

You could argue that banking is implicitly dull because it performs a functional service.  Well the same is true of other utilities such as gas and telephone services, but this hans’t stopped customers shopping around for better deals.  It may also be true that new utility providers have successfully promoted themselves, with offers enticing customers to switch, but banks like First Direct have been doing the same for years, offering cashback and a swift transfer of services.  Yet despite this, customers stick with banks while at the same time happily switch other service providers without hesitation.

 

The problem therefore must be a cultural one; it is simply engrained into our collective psyche that a bank is for life.

 

So what can be done to change this? It’s simple, those of us who care about service and how businesses treat customers should lead the way and encourage people to switch banks.  If you read people complaining about their bank on social media, encourage them to switch.   

 

If you want to get involved, feel free to use the following text when you hear people complaining about their bank: 

 

Join our #switchbanks campaign, it's the only way banks will learn they must improve service #custserv #cxp #cex

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