The Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe T.D., has today announced the commencement of the third and final phase of the Switch Your Bank campaign.
Following on from the successful delivery of two advertising campaigns which promoted awareness on the benefits of switching, this phase builds on this work by seeking to identify and develop tools which will better enable consumers to complete their switches.
The Economic and Social Research Institute’s (ESRI) Behavioural Research Unit has been contracted to carry out an experimental research project that will focus on the behavioural aspects of switching.
The campaign will continue to be supported by a dedicated website, www.switchyourbank.ie . The website provides a single source where consumers can access useful facts about switching, including a straightforward step by step guide, links to Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) comparison tools and helpful information to support their decision-making.
“I am pleased to see that work has commenced on the final phase of this worthwhile campaign. The commencement of this phase is timely considering that this has been a particularly difficult year for retail banking.” said Mr. Donohoe.
“Introducing an element of behavioural economics to this phase of the campaign may show that making more targeted and personalised recommendations to consumers would be of benefit.”
The Department of Finance is running this campaign as part of a range of competition measures agreed with the European Commission to raise awareness and promote customer switching in the retail financial product area. This was agreed in the context of the EU restructuring plans for AIB and PTSB. The campaign is being funded entirely by the two banks.