* Number of customers switching increased by 14 percent
* New rules part of measures to increase competition
LONDON, April 11 (Reuters) - New rules making it easier forBritons to switch banks resulted in a 14 percent increase in thenumber of customers moving accounts in the six months since theywere introduced, the Payments Council said on Friday.
The new rules, introduced last October, ensure customers canswitch accounts within seven working days with all outgoing andincoming payments automatically transferred.
They are part of a range of measures designed to break thedominance of Britain's four biggest banks - Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays andHSBC - which between them provide three-quarters of all UK personal current accounts.
The Payments Council, which is responsible for the newservice, said 609,300 accounts had been moved in the six monthssince the rules were introduced compared with 532,500 the yearbefore. It also said more than two-thirds of Britons were nowaware of the new rules.
"There's been a noticeable surge of advertising activityfrom current account providers big and small, suggesting the newservice is helping foster competition and choice for customers,"said Gary Hocking, managing director of the Payments Council.
Lawmakers and regulators believe a lack of choice has been afactor behind scandals such as the mis-selling of loan insuranceand complex interest rate hedging products, which have costbanks around 25 billion pounds ($42 billion) in compensation.($1 = 0.5971 British Pounds) (Reporting by Matt Scuffham. Editing by Jane Merriman)