Bank account numbers, those BSB thingamies that appear on your bank statements and that you give to your pay office, are controlled by the banks. But what if they were owned by the consumer and moved with you when you changed banks, in the same way mobile phone numbers can be transferred from one carrier to another? Wouldn't that make moving your transaction banking business so much easier?

The Consumer Action Law Centre has put this idea to the Government in a submission to the House of Representatives Economics Committee inquiry into banking competition, which kicked off a round of public hearings in Melbourne last week.

It has proposed that the committee look at a scheme where bank account numbers are owned by consumers and can be transferred from one bank to another, with all the direct debit and credit arrangements transferring automatically.

The group's submission says: "In the telecommunications industry switching costs were recognised as a barrier to effective competition and the portability of phone numbers was introduced to address this. The ability for consumers to switch their bank account number to a new provider, rather than have to switch all direct debit and credit arrangements over, would be more effective in reducing switching costs in the banking sector."

Consumer groups arguing for regulatory change to make it easier for bank customers to move their accounts were given extra ammunition with the release of a survey earlier this month showing that most people think switching is too much trouble.

Fifty-four per cent of the 2000 respondents to a Research International banking survey say changing bank accounts is more trouble than it is worth. This is despite 37 per cent saying they agree or strongly agree with the proposition: "I'd switch banks tomorrow if there was a bank that would do all the work for me."

Clive Wing, research director of Research International, says the number saying it is too much trouble to change banks has gone up two percentage points since last year's survey. Changing direct debits, paperwork and paying exit fees are the things that deter consumers from switching accounts.

This question of whether it is too hard to move transaction accounts is one of the issues that the House of Representatives Economics Committee will consider in its inquiry.

David Bell, the chief executive of the Australian Bankers Association, says bank account number portability is being examined in Britain, where a proposal for its introduction was considered by the British Competition Commission in 2002. Bell says: "The finding was that such a scheme would require major investment and significant change to the bank clearing system. It would be very costly to implement and that cost would outweigh the benefit."

Chris Hamilton, the chief executive of the Australian Payments Clearing Association, says if a country started building a banking system tomorrow portable account numbers would look like a good idea. "I don't argue with the concept but you would have to build a banking system from the ground up with that in mind."

The problem, says Hamilton, is that each BSB (the bank's number) and account number would have to be unique in the same way that phone numbers are. APCA is the body that administers the Eftpos, ATM, cheque, debit and credit payment systems. Hamilton is not aware of any detailed planning done on bank account number portability.

The ABA has negotiated a set of reforms to banking practice that it believes will make account switching easier.

Among the changes, to be implemented in November, the old financial institution will give the customer a list of direct debit and credit arrangements going back 13 months to facilitate the establishment of the new account.

The ABA says the new financial institution will give the customer help to make the switch. The banks will have to meet guidelines for timeliness and the provision of information.

The Consumer Action Law Centre has criticised the proposed new practice standard because it does not cover credit cards or scheme debit accounts. It also says there should be a stronger obligation on the new financial institution to help customers set up new direct debit and credit arrangements.

It blasted the fact that the ABA plan does not include redress if the old financial institution does not provide the promised list within sufficient time. It says the banks should state that the service will be free.

Bell says the ABA's members support the new guidelines and will work to make sure they operate efficiently.

"Why would an institution want to delay this process?"

Bell is not convinced consumers find it all that hard to switch, anyway. He says recent Australian Bureau of Statistics data show 30 per cent of new home loans written are for refinance - that is, in almost a third of cases the borrower is moving their business to a new bank.