"You’re more likely to divorce than to switch bank…

“You’re more likely to divorce than to switch bank accounts” is a popular saying in the United Kingdom. “People are more likely to divorce than move their account to another bank” was cited in print in 1998. “You’re more likely to divorce than to switch bank accounts” was cited in 2014. Surveys and statistics have supported the statement.

The Independent (UK)
Personal Finance: Switching isn’t hard to do
More people divorce than change banks. But it’s not that traumatic.
KIRSTY GREENWOOD AND NIC CICUTTI Saturday 07 November 1998
(...)
In fact, according to a separate survey by Abbey National, 47 per cent of adults, with 78 million current accounts in Britain believe “people are more likely to divorce than move their account to another bank”.

BBC News
Thursday, July 22, 1999 Published at 17:20 GMT 18:20 UK
Business: Your Money
Not a moving account
(...)
The most recent survey - by a bank itself - showed some 2.5m customers were unhappy with their accounts.

The poll also showed nearly half of all adults believed people were more likely to divorce than change current account.

The Economist
Braveheart
The biggest banking battle ever is just the thing to wake up the industry in Europe
Apr 26th 2007
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This is partly because European banks, understandably, like staying in their cosy, less-than-competitive home markets: customers are more likely to divorce than switch banks.

M2PressWIRE
February 22, 2008
Britons more likely to get divorced than switch banks despite 1 in 2 claiming to be unhappy with their current service
Recent research, analysed by Mintel on behalf of the BBC’s Watchdog viewers, has underlined the general apathy amongst British consumers when it comes to seeking out a provider for their day-to-day banking needs which is in stark contrast to the growing numbers of people opting out of marriages, business partnerships and employment.

Google Books
Liquidity Risk Measurement and Management
By Leonard Matz
Xlibris Corporation (Xlibris.com)
2011
Pg. ?:
Although retail deposits can be withdrawn on demand, bankers have been heard to joke that a depositor is more likely to get divorced than to switch banks.

Full Fact
Are you more likely to divorce than change your bank account?
July 10, 2012 • 1:36 pm
“People [switch their bank account] on average every 26 years. You’re more likely to be divorced than to change your bank account.”
Ed Balls, Andrew Marr Show, 8 July 2012
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Despite this, the average time between bank account switches is double the amount of time the average divorcee spent in their marriage. This isn’t quite the same claim as the one Mr Balls’ made, but more generous readers might appreciate the point that he is trying to make, and it is certainly true that a number of studies have concluded that customers change their current account relatively rarely when compared to other industries.

Google Books
Beyond The Call:
Why Some of Your Team Go the Extra Mile and Others Don’t Show
By Marc Woods
West Sussex, UK: John Wiley and Sons Ltd.
2013
Pg. 3:
Relatively few people switch bank accounts. It is called customer inertia. Or status quo bias, if you are a behavioural economist. Apparently, the statistics say that divorce is more likely than changing your bank.

The Telegraph (UK)
Ministers consider charges for bank accounts
City minister raises prospect of customers paying for bank accounts under proposals to allow same-day switching
By Matthew Holehouse, Political Correspondent 3:39PM BST 18 Jun 2014
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She added: “You’re more likely to divorce than to switch bank accounts. I mean that’s a crazy statistic.”
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Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, said this morning there is a “debate” around charging for current accounts, and the costs of implementing the technology for current account portability are “very considerable.”

“The current rate of switching is abysmally low; four per cent a year, despite all the efforts. The adage people choose their marriage partners more frequently than their banks is still true and we have to find ways of speeding that up.