BankWest head says 1 in 10 want to switch

The head of BankWest wants to make it easier for customers to switch banks and says research shows that ten per cent of people have considered switching banks.

According to the Australian newspaper, Ian Corfield, head of retail banking at the Perth financial institution, told a parliamentary banking inquiry on Friday that it should be far easier for unhappy customers to change banks.

Mr Corfield claimed that a recent survey by his bank revealed that one in ten customers had considered changing banks but only one per cent actually went through with it.

One of BankWest's proposals is to put measures in place that will allow discontented customers to transfer their savings account to another bank with one simple phone call, the Australian reported.

A supporter of Mr Corfield's proposal is Nicole Rich of the Consumer Action Law Centre, who claims that customers tend to stick with their banks because of the hassle involved in switching direct debits and credits.

"You need the ability for people to switch so there is pressure on banks to keep down prices," she added.

There is currently a proposal on the table that will see a bank provide any customer that wishes to leave with a statement of payment arrangements but Mr Corfield believes that more must be done, according to the report.

BankWest is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the UK's largest mortgage lender HBOS. It is a full-service bank with more than 860,000 customers.

At the end of July the bank upped its deposit rates to ten per cent a year on its Regular Saver account, providing customers make a minimum A$50 deposit each month.

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