What is CASS (Current Account Switch Service)?
The UK's official bank switching service, run by Pay.UK. It guarantees a full current account switch within 7 working days. All your payments, direct debits, and salary are automatically redirected. The old account is closed, and payments to it are forwarded for 3 years. CASS is free and covers you with a guarantee if anything goes wrong.
The Current Account Switch Service launched in 2013 to make moving current accounts painless. It's run by Pay.UK, the operator of the UK's retail payment systems, and nearly every UK current account provider participates. A CASS switch is free, takes 7 working days, and is started from the new bank — there's no need to contact the old one.
During the switch, the balance, direct debits and standing orders all move across automatically, and incoming payments such as salary are redirected. The old account is closed at the end, and anything still sent to it is forwarded to the new account for at least 3 years. The Current Account Switch Guarantee backs all of this: if anything goes wrong, charges or interest incurred as a result are refunded.
CASS is the mechanism behind almost every UK switch bonus. Banks pay bonuses for a full switch through the service — a partial switch, or manually moving payments across, doesn't qualify. That's why the burner/donor account pattern exists: the full CASS switch consumes the account being switched.