Atom: Survey Reveals That Payday Week Brings Financial Terror for 12.3 Million Brits Every Month
DURHAM, England, November 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
Research from Atom, the UK's first bank built exclusively for mobile, uncovers Brits' difficult relationship with their earnings.
- Nearly a quarter of people (24%) feel the onset of financial fear, just after getting paid
- 85% of people don't know exactly how much money is in their account
- Two in five Brits would prefer to be caught in a socially embarrassing situation than for a stranger to know their bank balance
- More than 3 million Brits admit lying to their partner about the state of their finances
- 29% of adults have felt nervous or physically sick when checking their account balance
- Over half of people (56%) don't make or stick to a monthly budget
- 76% of 18-24 year olds don't understand banking terms including ATM and Direct Debit
The survey reveals the often strange emotional relationship that people in the UK have with their personal finances.
The findings show that the week the nation is most flush with cash is also the week the nation starts getting financially stressed, with nearly a quarter (24%) starting to worry about their bank balance straight after payday. Extraordinarily, over one in seven (14%) cited payday itself as the day they begin to worry about their finances for the month ahead.
When it comes to revealing personal wealth, the nation is similarly emotionally eccentric, with nearly two fifths of us (39%) preferring to be caught by a stranger in an embarrassing situation such as being caught with our flies down or falling asleep in an important meeting, than a stranger being privy to how much money is in our bank account. And it's not just strangers we're shy of talking truthfully to about our finances: over 3 million Brits admit to having lied to a partner about their finances in the last three years.
The study was commissioned by Atom, the UK's first digital bank, in association with charity The Stress Management Society and You Gov.
Chief Executive of Atom Bank, Mark Mullen, said:
"It's clear from the research that the UK's relationship with money is in need of some couples' therapy. Fortunately, banking apps like Atom will hopefully help reduce the stress when we launch Current Account in 2017. Our products and services are designed to fit around our customers and the way they live their lives, however eccentric. It's why we're a digital-only bank, on a mission to help UK customers take back control of their money."
With 85% of people unaware of the amount in their current account at any given time, and over a third (34%) of people feeling stressed, worried or anxious when thinking about budgeting, the UK is definitely in need of a new way of managing its money.
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