THE north's "big four" main banks saw more than 2,000 customers ditching and switching their current accounts between January and March this year, according to figures published by a switching service.
AIB Group UK, which includes First Trust Bank and Allied Irish Bank GB, lost 1,580 accounts while 388 turned their backs on Bank of Ireland.
Danske Bank and Ulster Bank lost 91 and 79 customers respectively, figures from the Current Account Switch Service (Cass) show.
The switching figures are provided voluntarily by banks and building societies, and they do not include switches made outside Cass.
They specifically include individuals, small businesses and small charities that have switched using Cass and received the benefits of the guarantee and payment redirection services.
NatWest made the strongest gains (up 19,464), followed by Nationwide Building Society (12,503), Starling Bank (11,888), HSBC UK (5,176) and Monzo (3,221).
The figures also show that TSB made a net loss of 13,120 switches, while Barclays lost 12,851 and Halifax lost 11,939.
Cass said that nearly two-thirds (63 per cent) of current account switchers in the past year used the switching service, up from 55 per cent in the two years before.
Its data for the second quarter of 2022 also suggest that, in general, service-related, non-financial benefits continue to be the main reasons for customers preferring their new current account to their old one.
Online banking (47 per cent), mobile banking/banking app ease (41 per cent), customer service (38 per cent) and location of branches (25 per cent) were listed as the top reasons for people preferring their new current account.
One in six (16 per cent) current account holders are actively thinking about switching, a similar proportion to the six months before. Another 13 per cent were considering switching but had not yet started looking, according to Cass.
A total of 191,777 switches were completed between April and June 2022, Cass said.
Looking back over 12 months, it said 850,243 switches had taken place, compared with just 646,569 a year before.
David Piper, head of service lines at Pay.UK, owner and operator of Cass, said: "As life in the UK begins to return to its pre-pandemic form, we have seen an uplift in the numbers choosing to switch to a new current account.
"This trend could continue in 2022 with many looking to take advantage of rising interest rates and the cashback incentives that some providers are currently offering.
"Of course, rising living costs provide another reason for people to assess whether their existing current account is providing the right service for their needs, or whether moving to another current account might be a prudent move.
"Those considering whether it's time for a new current account should remember that the Current Account Switch Service is free to use and provides a valuable layer of protection to those wishing to switch in a fast and stress-free manner."
