There has been one major current account winner as a result of the credit crunch, new data seem to show.
A 123 percent increase in customer switching has been noted at The Co-operative Bank.
The bank said that it had benefitted from customer concerns over the stability of the financial services sector over recent months. RBS, Lloyds TSB and HBOS, all three of which have been bailed out by the government recently, were the top three sources of customer switching.
John Barker, head of current accounts at The Co-op, claimed: "Although the current account market is generally thought of as stagnant, our records show that since mid 2008 the market as a whole has started to change, with customers seeking security and looking to move their money to organisations they can trust."
He added: "This type of growth is normally rare in the traditionally stagnant switching market and in the past increases of this kind have only been possible by spending vast sums of money on incentives for customers to switch."
The Co-op's figures come in a period when many other British banks are suffering from the credit crunch.
RBS and the Lloyds Banking Group - incorporating Lloyds TSB and HBOS - have both been part-nationalised after being threatened with collapse in the crisis, while Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley have been entirely taken over by the government. Even Barclays and HSBC have been forced to raise capital to protect themselves against the crunch, with the former recently announcing that it would be selling its successful iShares unit and the latter launching a UK-record £12.5 billion rights issue earlier this year.
