The Current Account Switch Service moves your UK current account to a new bank or building society within seven working days, transferring your direct debits, standing orders, and balance, and backing the whole thing with a guarantee against financial loss. Run by Pay.UK and used by more than 50 participating banks and building societies, it also redirects payments sent to your old account details for at least three years after the switch completes.
Full Switch or Partial Switch
The first decision is which version of the service you want, and getting this wrong is probably the most common early mistake.
A full switch moves everything. All your direct debits, standing orders, and your account balance transfer to the new bank. Your old account closes on the switch date, and any payments sent to the old account details get automatically redirected to the new one.
A partial switch lets you pick which direct debits and standing orders to move. Your old account stays open, your balance stays where it is, and no redirection kicks in for payments still being sent to the old account. It works if you want to keep the old account running while you test a new provider, but you take on responsibility for anything that slips through.
How to Start the Switch
You apply through the new bank, not the old one. The new provider handles the entire process on your behalf, and you can usually start online, through a mobile app, or in a branch.
Two pieces of information from your existing account get things moving: your eight-digit account number and your six-digit sort code. Both appear on your bank statements, in your banking app, and on your debit card. Check that both banks participate by looking for the Current Account Switch Service trust mark on their websites or promotional materials.1Current Account Switch Service. Current Account Switch Service
During the application you sign two documents: the Current Account Switch Agreement and, for a full switch, the Current Account Closure Instruction. These authorise the new bank to act for you and confirm you want the old account closed. Your new bank provides both forms.2Current Account Switch Service. The Switching Process – Personal Make sure the name and address on your application match what both banks hold, because mismatches are the most common cause of processing delays.
Joint Accounts
If you hold a joint account, both account holders must agree to the switch. A joint account can only move to another joint account held by the same two people. The service cannot convert a joint account into a sole account.3Current Account Switch Service. Common Questions
Overdrafts
An existing overdraft does not transfer automatically. Arrange any overdraft you need with the new bank before starting the switch, subject to their credit assessment. The new provider may also offer lending to help clear the overdraft on your old account.2Current Account Switch Service. The Switching Process – Personal Sort this out early. If the old account is overdrawn and the new bank won’t match the facility, you could end up owing money to the old bank with no easy way to repay once the account closes.
Picking a Switch Date
After you submit the application, you choose the date the switch completes. Allow at least seven working days from the date of submission, and the switch date itself cannot fall on a weekend or bank holiday.2Current Account Switch Service. The Switching Process – Personal Those are working days, not calendar days, so a switch requested just before a bank holiday weekend will take noticeably longer in real time.
The new bank confirms the date and sends updates by email or text as the process moves forward. You get a final confirmation once the switch completes and all payment instructions are live on the new account.
What Transfers and What Does Not
The tools behind the service scan your old account and move your active direct debits and standing orders across. The new provider then notifies the organisations collecting those payments, such as utility companies, insurers, and subscription services, of your updated bank details. Salary and benefit payments get redirected too, so incoming credits find their way to the right place.2Current Account Switch Service. The Switching Process – Personal The final balance of your old account, including any pending transactions, transfers on the switch date.
The Card-Payment Gap
Here is where most switching problems actually happen. Recurring payments tied to your old debit card number are not transferred by the service. Your old bank does not know your new card number and cannot pass it along, so those payment requests fail rather than redirect.4The Co-operative Bank. What Will Happen With Continuous Card Payments/Recurring Transactions When Switching
These are called continuous payment authorities, and they are more common than most people realise. Gym memberships, streaming services, app store subscriptions, and some insurance policies often collect this way rather than through direct debit. Before your switch date, go through recent statements and identify any regular payment that shows up as a card transaction rather than a direct debit. Contact each of those companies directly and give them your new card details. Skip this step and the service you are paying for may be interrupted or cancelled.
How the Redirection Works
After a full switch, a centralised redirection service watches your old account details for incoming payments and outgoing requests. Any funds sent to the old account number get automatically forwarded to the new one. Each time a payment is redirected, an automatic message goes back to the sender telling them to update their records with your new details.5Bacs Payment Schemes Limited. Current Account Switch Service – Making Account Switching Easier
Redirection stays active for a minimum of three years, and potentially longer if needed.6Pay.UK. Current Account Switch Service That window gives organisations plenty of time to update their records, but don’t treat it as a permanent safety net. Contact any regular payers within the first few months to confirm they have updated your information.
The redirection only applies to full switches. If you chose a partial switch, payments sent to your old account stay in your old account.
The Guarantee
Every participating bank commits to the Current Account Switch Guarantee, which protects you from financial loss caused by the switching process. If a payment fails or goes missing because of the switch, the new bank must refund any interest charged or penalties you incur as a result.1Current Account Switch Service. Current Account Switch Service The guarantee also covers your credit rating: if a switching error causes a missed payment that shows up on your credit file, the new bank is responsible for correcting it.
The new bank is your single point of contact for resolving problems. You don’t need to chase the old bank separately. If a direct debit or standing order goes unpaid because of a technical failure during the switch, the new provider must put your account back into the position it would have been in had the error not occurred.1Current Account Switch Service. Current Account Switch Service There is no expiry date on this protection for switch-related problems, even ones that surface months or years later.
If the new bank does not resolve an issue to your satisfaction, you can escalate to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Keep records of any charges you incur because of a switching error, since you will need them to claim a refund.7Current Account Switch Service. Contact Us
Will Switching Hurt Your Credit Score
Switching your current account through the service does not damage your credit score, provided you repay any outstanding overdraft on your old account as required. If the switching process itself causes a payment problem that affects your credit file, the guarantee requires the new bank to correct it.8NatWest. Will Switching My Current Account Affect My Credit Rating
Opening a new current account may involve a credit check from the new bank, particularly if you are applying for an overdraft facility. The impact varies by provider. Ask the new bank before applying whether they run a hard or soft credit search during the application.
If You Are Reading This From the US
The United States has no direct equivalent. Switching bank accounts in the US remains a manual process where you open the new account, move your direct deposits and automatic payments yourself, and close the old one on your own timeline. No centralised redirection service exists, and there is no industry-wide guarantee covering errors. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Personal Financial Data Rights Rule, finalised under Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act, addresses data portability between providers rather than the end-to-end switching process the UK service provides, and its compliance dates remain subject to ongoing litigation and reconsideration.9Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. CFPB Finalizes Personal Financial Data Rights Rule10Federal Register. Personal Financial Data Rights Reconsideration