No real choice

So it has become easier to switch your current account from bank to bank.  The Guardian reports:

Britain's 46 million current account holders will be bombarded from Monday with offers to switch banks thanks to the formal introduction of "seven-day switching", after a £750m systems overhaul to ensure direct debits and payments can be transferred between providers in the space of a week.

Three-quarters of current accounts are still held by the "big four" high-street banks, with the typical customer staying with a bank for 17 years – six years longer than the average length of a marriage. Fears of payments going awry has discouraged most customers from moving, even if they have endured poor service. A recent survey found that one in five people would rather go to the dentist than try to switch their current account....Martin Lewis, creator of MoneySavingExpert.com, said: "Far too many people whinge that their bank is a bastard, but then do nothing about it. A whole swath of the country still has the same bank account they set up as a child on the back of being given a piggy bank. Don't whinge, ditch and switch."

But what if your new bank is just as bad as your old bank?  Why would it be any better?  As Ms Kylie Minogue once said, better the devil you know.