Switching banks not as hassle-free as promised

We've all had it. That nagging feeling of low-level dissatisfaction with the service provided by our bank. That vague intention to do something about it sometime. That overwhelming inertia, caused partly by sheer laziness, partly by the unappetising prospect of changing all those standing orders and direct debits, and then having to rely on them all to be processed and moved before they fall due.

But the new code of practice on account switching, introduced by the Irish Bankers' Federation at the start of this month, promises to change all that. Under the code, all you have to do is open a new account in the bank of your choice, then fill out a simple form authorising the transfer of all standing orders and direct debits from the old account to the new one.

Writing in this newspaper, Mr Pat Farrell of the IBF declared that the new code would make switching "as quick, easy and hassle-free as possible". Those are some of my favourite words. I was ready to switch.

Like many people, I'd been with my bank - Bank of Ireland in Blackrock, Co Dublin - since before I'd started shaving. Apart from my family, my B of I account was the only remaining connection I had with that time.

You can't switch your family, but the level of charges on the account, not to mention B of I's mind-boggling profit margins, combined with the fact that the branch was located on the other side of the city from where I now live, persuaded me that it was time to take advantage of the new code.

In January, I opened a Freebank account - no service or transaction charges as long as it's in credit - with a city centre branch of National Irish Bank, which was up and running by the time the new code came into operation at the end of the month.

On February 3rd, I filled out the form in NIB, proud to discover that I was the branch's very first switcher.

The guidelines commit the two banks involved to completing the process within seven working days. NIB asked for eight, just to be on the safe side. Everything would be completed by Tuesday, February 15th.

On Thursday 17th, I discovered that the switch hadn't occurred. NIB was apologetic; it wasn't sure where the fault lay. There was still no sign of movement the next day. Or, indeed, by the following Monday. The seven working days had now stretched to almost two weeks. I was starting to get alarmed.

I received a phone call from a nice lady in B of I. It was terribly sorry I was leaving. Would I mind telling her why I didn't want to bank with it any more?

More to the point, I asked, would she mind telling me why the switch still hadn't happened. A flurry of papers on the line: the documents show it had only received the form the day before.

NIB has accepted full responsibility and apologised for the delay. It appears that I was being too smart for my own good when I set up the new account in advance of the code being implemented on January 31st. This led to some confusion as to when the switching process could be initiated.

The code commits banks to have the new account up and running, with cheque books and cards issued, within 10 working days. As soon as this happens, the form is sent to the old bank, and the switching process must be completed within seven working days. My pre-emptive strike threw a spanner in the works.

"We're extremely sorry this has happened," NIB's spokesperson told me. "We're carrying out an investigation to find out what went wrong and make sure that it doesn't happen again."

As the spokesperson points out, it's the smaller operators such as NIB who stand to gain most from the new code.

Offering more attractive accounts with no charges, they could start eating into B of I and AIB's 75 per cent market share.

NIB has promised the process will be completed by the end of this week. It's unfortunate for it that its first problematic customer happened to be a journalist who was writing an article about the experience - and probably just my luck that the experience was not quite as "quick, easy and hassle-free" as promised.