Every year Britons waste around £2.9 billion because they are not switching to better current account deals, according to new research from Alliance & Leicester Current Accounts.

The Alliance & Leicester figures show a nation of banking customers stuck with poor accounts as they persist with the poor value current accounts offered by the traditional high street banks. Nearly two thirds (59%) of banking customers have held a current account with the same bank for more than 10 years, with 42 per cent of customers banking with one of the traditional high street banks, effectively wasting £144.58 each every year.

But a quarter (25%) of people who’ve been with their bank for more than five years still say they feel loyal to their bank as they’ve been good to them – despite the likely fact their bank has given them little in return – and nearly a third (27%) mistakenly think that all current accounts are virtually the same, so don’t really see the point in switching.

A saving of £144.58 a year proves that not all current accounts are the same – and as if that wasn’t enough incentive to switch to Alliance & Leicester, a £150 holiday voucher is also on offer until 30 September for everyone applying for the Premier or Premier Plus current accounts. There is also free entry into a holiday prize draw.

Simon Ripton, Current Accounts Manager at Alliance & Leicester says: “Our £150 holiday voucher, coupled with the £144 saved by switching to Alliance & Leicester, means £294 towards the cost of a holiday – well worth having in anyone’s language. People sticking with their traditional high street bank are having the wool pulled over their eyes.  Today’s current accounts are not all the same, and most banking customers are not getting the best deal available. There has never been a better time to switch.”