The banking industry acknowledges more can be done to make it easier for customers to switch lenders.
One in six Australians have switched banks over the past three years, according to a survey of 1,000 people by Galaxy Research for the Australian Bankers' Association.
Of those, 68 per cent said it was easy and 21 per cent found it difficult, usually because of the time and effort involved, including the hassle of changing automatic payments and direct debits, the ABA said.
Younger people are more likely to make the switch, with a quarter of people aged 18 to 39 changing banks in the last three years, compared to just eight per cent of customers aged 60 and over.
Banks, consumer groups and regulators are meeting on Thursday for an ABA event to discuss the issues around switching lenders.
"The aim of the roundtable is to help us identify new initiatives which would improve the ease and convenience of switching banks or banking products," ABA chief economist Tony Pearson said.
Meanwhile, a finder.com.au survey of more than 2,000 people found two-in-five Australians are still with their childhood bank.
But the comparison site's money expert Bessie Hassan said 67 per cent of people who have switched ended up with a better deal.
Competition in the banking sector has been under intense scrutiny as a parliamentary committee this week grilled the bosses of the big four banks on the issue.
The chief executives of Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac dismissed the need for additional oversight by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, while Westpac chief executive Brian Hartzer said the sector was highly competitive.
