When moving accounts your old bank must provide your new one with full details of your standing orders and direct debits within three days.

What is more, if customers incur charges as a result of mistakes or delays during the transfer, banks and building societies will be duty-bound to refund them.

In future, switching bank accounts should take no more than 10 days after the new bank has approved the customers application.

Enhanced rights

Back in March, the Banking Code was updated to include a range of new consumer guarantees.

Savers benefited from a new rule in the code which meant banks will be obliged to inform them if interest rate falls by a half-percentage point or more, in relation to the Bank of England base rate, in any 12 month period.

In addition, customers would receive better notification when an introductory credit card comes to an end.

Consumer groups broadly welcomed the code changes, but said they would still like to see banks do more for their customers.

"It seems odd that banks are now happy to transfer debits within three days yet they often take four or five days to clear a cheque, saving them millions in extra interest," Stuart Cliffe, chief executive of the national Association of bank and Insurance customers told BBC News Online.