The Financial System Inquiry has called for more to be done to make it easier for people to switch bank accounts, citing very low take-up of current switching arrangements as evidence that consumers still face obstacles if they want to change banks.The FSI interim report endorsed submissions recommending that the developers of the New Payments Platform look for ways to lessen those obstacles.The FSI said: "Competition relies on consumers being able to compare the value of different products. Technology has enabled the growth of online aggregators and comparison websites that better enable consumers to compare value."However, there is little gain in improving the capacity of consumers to compare the value of products if there are impediments to switching between products."Since July 2012 customers have had the option of authorising their new financial institution to organise the transfer of direct debit and direct credit arrangements on their behalf.Under this so-called tick and flick arrangement, promoted by the Government as a way of enhancing competition, the task of transferring direct entry arrangements from one financial institution to another passed from the customer to the financial institution.Roy Morgan Research told the Inquiry that 3.2 per cent of consumers switch their main financial institution each year and Treasury reported that only 17,500 used the tick and flick system in 2013.The FSI said: "The New Payments Platform project may assist in this regard. One of the platform's build requirements is for consumers to be able to attach a unique address, such as their mobile phone number or email address, to their bank account. Direct debits and credits could then be made to addresses, rather than underlying bank account numbers."The NPP is intended to be a fast and flexible basic infrastructure for payments, allowing real-time settlements and able to support the transmission of data with payments, as well as a host of innovative "overlays".The Australian Payments Clearing Association is administering the NPP project. In its second round submission to the FSI it said that, by enabling customer details to be attached to a portable identifier such as a telephone number or email address, the NPP would make switching easier in future.One of the strongest advocates for better account switching arrangements, ING Direct, has argued that the current system requires too much customer effort and has not delivered a real choice to customers. Its second round submission said: "ING Direct notes the interim report includes discussion of how the NPP could facilitate the switching process by attaching customer direct debits to an individual identity rather than an account number linked to an institution. ING Direct supports the idea as a way of making it easier for customers to choose between financial institutions."