Numbers of current account customers leaving the UK’s traditional banks are roughly in balance with those joining, according to the TNS Current Account Switching Index.
The main exception was HSBC, which accounted for 14% of all switchers and only 2% of joiners in December.
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Maureen Duffy, CEO of TNS UK said: "It is impossible to draw firm conclusions from a single month, and we will have to wait to see whether the improvement seen by the traditional banks in December can be sustained.
"It may be that the traditional banks are working harder to give their customers no reason to leave.
"We now have a full quarter’s data since the current account switch service. The picture will become much clearer by the end of March 2014 when we will have another quarter’s data and may then be able to see trends emerging."
Lloyds TSB climbed back to 17% of switchers in December from 20% in November and maintained 15% of joiners while Barclays and NatWest moved from small negative positions to equilibrium.
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By GlobalDataSantander was also an exception with 19% of choosers and 8% of leavers, down from 21% and 9% respectively in November.
A third of those leaving Santander blamed poor customer service, the highest proportion for any current account provider.
Co-op Bank moved into a negative position in December, with 3% of choosers and 4% of leavers, reversing the November position, but TNS said it was too early to see how much impact recent scandals have had.
Poor customer service proved to be the main trigger for customers leaving a bank, with 25% citing this as a significant factor in December, up from 22% in November, while customer service as a reason to choose also rose, by three points to 14%.
The most important factor in choosing a new provider was the availability of a local branch and convenient opening hours, at 22%. More than 70% of switchers who chose a traditional bank cited either this, reputation or expectation of better customer service.
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