Monzo wins most new current accounts ahead of biggest switching month since 2016

via AltFi

It’s been a record quarter for current account switching and digital bank Monzo becoming the most-switched to account for the first time ever during Q4 2019.

While most of the world has been in lockdown, a record 113,000 people switched their current account this March—making it the third-highest month on record for switching and the highest since March 2016.

Overall the first quarter of 2020 saw a total of 280,520 account switches made, up from 265,195 last year.

According to per bank data covering Q4 2019 from the Current Account Switch Service (CASS) published today, the biggest winner in the run-up to Christmas was, obviously, Monzo (with 20,843 net switches) followed by Nationwide (14,959), Lloyds (13,243) and Starling Bank (9,247).

Starling’s performance marked its best month ever for net switchers, beating even Q3 2019 when the bank launched its high profile TV marketing campaign.

Reports have been mixed over whether coronavirus and the weight of lockdown had dampened the growth of digital banks in recent months.

Some app download data has pointed to a downward trend, especially in March, while other data pointed to a surge.

CASS data is among the most reliable since it shows not just downloads, but the number of people actually moving their bank accounts to these challengers.

The reality appears to be on the positive side, with tens of thousands of consumers choosing lockdown as the perfect opportunity to reassess their finances and change bank account—increasingly to a digital provider.