A debate is emerging over how easily Australians can and do switch banks, with two new submissions to the Senate's banking inquiry taking opposing views.Payments service provider group the Australian Payments Clearing Association says in its submission that "millions of Australians" change their transaction accounts from one provider to another each year.But ING Direct's submission says consumers "are reluctant to initiate switching to other banks even when they are not happy with the service provided to them by their current bank".Future Fund chairman and former Commonwealth Bank CEO David Murray has also argued for focusing on the switching issue, saying in an interview in yesterday's Financial Review that the ability for customers to switch is "the main thing" that reformers should focus on.The federal government in 2008 introduced a scheme to help consumers switch banks - but just 1818 people signed up in the 12 months after its introduction.The ING Direct submission says "it is clear that direct debits and credits serve the purpose of tentacles for banks to hold onto customers by restricting them from moving to another provider".But for the government's scheme to work, it says, the Bulk Electronic Clearing System rules must change. "Currently consumers do not find the package convenient or user-friendly and are reluctant to initiate switching to other banks even when they are not happy with the service provided to them by their current bank."ING Direct argues that the government must ultimately aim for a more ambitious system based on portable account numbers, "where all debits and credits already linked to that account are automatically transferred over to the new bank".The submission also details short-term options such as a New Zealand scheme allowing bank customers to fill out a form authorising their new bank to organise the switching process.In stark contrast, the APCA submission says that "switching is active and there is clear evidence of effective, indeed increasing, competition".APCA calculates "an annual account churn of approximately 3.5 million accounts" or more than 10 per cent of all personal transaction accounts. It also quoted a Retail Financial Intelligence survey from June showing  24 per cent of respondents had switched account provider at least once in the last five years.APCA argues that a phone-style portable number system for bank accounts would be unjustifiably complex, expensive and risky.