Thousands of Customers Move Their Money from Corporate Banks
Consumers are deserting major high-street banks in unprecedented numbers after a slew of revelations about unethical behaviour, according to data from the Move Your Money campaign. Building societies, credit unions and co-operatives have all reported a sharp rise in new business over the past 12 months as the reputation of the major banks has taken a hammering.
Thousands of Customers Move Their Money from Corporate Banks
Banking: thousands of customers switch their accounts out of the big five Building societies, credit unions and co-operatives benefit as anger over scandals turns to action
by Heather Stewart
The Observer
Saturday 22 December 2012
Consumers are deserting major high-street banks in unprecedented numbers after a slew of revelations about unethical behaviour, according to data from the Move Your Money campaign.
Building societies, credit unions and co-operatives have all reported a sharp rise in new business over the past 12 months as the reputation of the major banks has taken a hammering.
Laura Willoughby, Move Your Money's chief executive, said: "Anger with the banks is turning into action. This year British banks have been exposed for exploiting their customers, starving the economy of credit and flouting the law."
Credit unions – small, usually locally based savings groups – have attracted almost 20,000 new accounts in the past six months, according to Move Your Money, while ethical banks Triodos, Ecology and the Charity Bank have all reported a jump in customers.
Building societies saw 78,000 customers sign up for savings accounts in the third quarter alone after Barclays was implicated in the Libor-fixing scandal, which has spread to engulf several other banks.
"Customers are clearly far more interested now in the way financial services companies are run," said a spokeswoman for the Building Societies Association. "Putting that into the mix alongside interest rates and service has been positive for mutuals like building societies."
