Irish consumers are becoming increasingly savvy when it comes to getting value for money and are looking to switch service providers more than ever before, new research by lender Capitalflow shows. With inflation and the rising cost of living putting pressure on household budgets, the iReach study looks at Irish people’s attitudes and habits about switching.
Switching ranges from banking to telecoms, insurance to utilities. Whether it’s changing insurance provider or shopping around for gas or electricity, 91 per cent of Irish adults said they switched at least one service in the last five years. The main reasons they switch is to get better deals, a seamless switching process or avail of a loyalty or rewards programme.
For those who have not switched any services, 48 per cent said they were happy with their current service, one in three said it was not worth the hassle, 29 per cent have a great deal already and 17 per cent simply could not be bothered. Insurance services tend to see the highest turnover of customers with 85 per cent having switched car insurance.
Movement
Some 70 per cent switched home insurance and over half switched health insurance provider. Utilities have also seen lots of movement with three quarters of adults having switched gas provider. Almost half said they like to shop around for service providers, 32 per cent received a bundle discount to switch and one in five switched to feel valued and rewarded.
The study revealed a less positive picture for financial services, showing that when it comes to moving to a new bank or switching mortgage providers, Irish adults are more reluctant, citing time and complexity as the main barriers. Over three quarters said they did not find it easy to switch mortgage provider, while two thirds said switching a loan or loan account was not simple.
While 54 per cent have switched loan accounts, just 40 per cent switched their credit card and 37 per cent switched their current account in the last five years. Currently 53 per cent would or might consider moving to a fully digital bank. Of those, 72 per cent would require a high level of online security to protect their data and 69 per cent sought a banking app.
Those who switched mortgage provider cite an average annual saving of €1,094.30, €97.94 for a current account and €112.20 for a credit card. Those who switched gas provider saved €189.73, while for heating/electricity it was €222.21. For broadband, the average annual saving was €124.07 and for digital TV it’s €107.54.
Insurance savings are €214.31 for health, €162.57 for car and €125.37 for home.
