Banks, building societies, credit card companies and even supermarkets know that customer loyalty is what keeps them afloat and luckily for them they know that most people will stick where they are because they know no different. Unfortunately customer loyalty is in most cases just an illusion and the companies you’re loyal to won’t give you anything worthwhile in return – in fact it can even cost you more to stick with them than to change to another provider.

So why do people stay with certain providers?

There are a number of reasons, the most common of which is that customers just don’t want to switch to a provider they don’t know. This is particularly true with regards to banking products and credit cards. A lot of people have their bank accounts with a specific lender from the start and swapping to a new bank just seems wrong – even if an alternative bank is offering better deals and more interest on savings. Similarly, these people will often go to their bank for their mortgage, insurances and even credit cards even though they end up paying a lot more for the products in the long run.

And what do loyal customers get for their loyalty?

Unfortunately, nothing much at all in a lot of cases. Banks, building societies and credit card companies tend to keep their best deals for new customers and so those that stick around long term get very few special offers or discounts thrown their way. The only real exception to this is when supermarkets, and a few credit cards, award customers loyalty points for shopping. Sadly the number of points given away is often worth much less than the savings that can be made by going elsewhere and so the points don’t count for a lot.

And the moral of the story is…

That customer loyalty just doesn’t pay. You can easily find better deals, higher interest rates, lower mortgage rates and a whole host of other money saving products by shopping around. Swapping lenders is also easier than most people think and the bank/building society do all the hard work for you. Staying loyal to your bank/building society/credit card provider etc. may make you feel good but at the end of the day it doesn’t mean an awful lot to them – if it did they would reward their loyal customers with as many great offers as they do their new customers. All types of financial companies are out to make money, bottom line, and if they can have your money for doing nothing then so much the better.

Take a few hours out today and shop around for your financial products – you can use the comparison engine here on BUYability – to see how much you can save on some of the products and how much extra you can earn from your various bank accounts. It isn’t difficult to swap to new providers and it could leave you hundreds or even thousands of pounds better off each year.