Banks getting more aggressive about the 'switch'.

Banks are offering more assistance than ever before to customers who switch their accounts from another bank, according to recent news reports.

Banks such as Citizens Bank, National City Corp. and Commerce Bancorp Inc. are offering to make the telephone calls and write the letters necessary to enable customers to change their direct deposits and automatic bill payments from their old financial institution to the new one. This new "switching service" is a variation on the old "switch kit" that banks used to use to entice customers to move their accounts.

One of the toughest obstacles to switching is automatic bill pay, now used by nearly half of U.S. households, says news reports. Banks who want to break these electronic "chains" need to be more aggressive to encourage customers to switch. Ironically, new computerized products are coning onto the market to make it easier for banks to automatically move customers' automatic billing information from one financial institution to another.