Value of current accounts increases 15%, figures show

The value of current accounts rose by 15 per cent during the first half of the year, fresh figures from the Central Bank show.

In its latest Consumer Protection Bulletin, the regulator said the number of current accounts held by personal consumers had increased from 5,144,522 to 5,286,356 since the second half of 2015.

The value of current accounts since the second half of 2013 rose by €9.3 billion, representing an increase of 58 per cent in the period. Compared with the first half of 2016, there has been an increase in value of €3.4 billion, or 15 per cent.

The Central Bank also said switching levels “remained low”, continuing the trend of recent years. The number of consumers switching current accounts from one credit institution to another was 2,715.

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“Overall levels of switching remain low relative to the number of current accounts in the market,” said the bank.

Complaints relating to current accounts continue to represent the largest number of consumer complaints about banking products. The number of complaints as a percentage of the total number of current accounts was less than 1 per cent.

At the end of June, there were six main credit institutions active in the consumer current account market.

The number of personal accounts in an unauthorised overdrawn position has been reducing since 2014.

There was a 9 per cent reduction in the number of these current accounts in an unauthorised overdrawn position since the first half of 2016.