Bank account portability is the ability of a customer to move their everyday bank account from one provider to another without losing incoming payments, outgoing bills or, in its fullest form, their existing account number. The aim is to make switching banks as easy as switching mobile phone providers, so that banks have to compete for customers rather than relying on inertia.
There are two broad models. Assisted switching moves balances, standing orders, Direct Debits and incoming payments to a new account with a new account number, and redirects anything sent to the old details. Full account number portability would let the customer keep the same sort code or routing details and number at the new bank. As of 2026, assisted switching is common in Europe, while full portability has been studied but not introduced in any major banking market.
Bank account portability in plain terms
Moving house is a good comparison. When you move, you can tell everyone your new address yourself, or you can pay for a mail-redirection service that forwards your post for a while. Bank switching services are the redirection service: they tell your employer, utility companies and others about your new account, and forward anything that still arrives at the old one.
Full portability would be like taking your old address with you to a new house, so nobody needs to be told anything. It sounds simpler for the customer, but it means rebuilding the whole addressing system that banks and payment networks rely on.
Why switching is hard
A current account is tied to many other arrangements: salary credits, benefit payments, recurring payments, card subscriptions and direct deposits. Customers fear that something will be missed, a bill will bounce or wages will go astray. Competition authorities have repeatedly found that low switching rates let large banks keep charging more or paying less interest than newer rivals, so portability is mainly a competition policy tool, linked to open banking, which also grew out of UK competition remedies.
Switching services in practice
- United Kingdom. The Current Account Switch Service (CASS), launched in September 2013 and run by Pay.UK, moves a personal or small business current account in seven working days. The old bank closes the account, moves the balance, and the new bank takes over Direct Debits and standing orders. Payments sent to the old details are redirected for at least 36 months, a period extended from the original 13 months. A guarantee covers fees and interest if something goes wrong.
- European Union. The Payment Accounts Directive (2014/92/EU) requires member states to provide a switching service between banks in the same country, with deadlines for each step, and to make cross-border account opening easier. It also created the right to a basic payment account.
- Netherlands. The Overstapservice, a bank-industry switching service, has redirected payments to new accounts since 2004.
- United States. There is no national switching service. Some banks offer "switch kits" or third-party tools that move direct deposits and bill payments, often using payroll and account aggregation data.
Full account number portability
In 2014, at HM Treasury's request, the UK Financial Conduct Authority reviewed both CASS and account number portability. Its March 2015 report found that CASS was working well for people who used it, but that being able to keep account details would raise confidence in switching. Consultants working for the FCA assessed several options for full portability and found the most complete ones the most expensive, risky and complex to build, because sort codes and account numbers are embedded in Bacs, Faster Payments, CHAPS, cheque systems and thousands of company payment files. The UK did not proceed with it.
Supporters point out that IBAN-based schemes, proxy identifiers and central directories could make portability more feasible. Instant payment systems that route by phone number or alias, such as UPI in India and Pix in Brazil, offer a partial version: a customer can move the alias to a new bank and keep receiving payments without sharing new details. Similar proxy services exist in Australia, Singapore and Pakistan.
Limitations
Switching services cover domestic current accounts, not savings products, mortgages or multi-currency accounts at e-money firms, and they do not move card-on-file payments, which depend on the card number rather than the account number. Customers moving cards still need to update merchants, although network tokenization and card account updater services can carry some card credentials over. Switching rates remain modest even where services work well, which suggests habit and trust matter as much as process. Under data rules, account history can now travel through financial data access, which may help new banks onboard switchers and assess them for credit or an overdraft.