New research by the UK’s leading daily city deals website has found that 78% of Brits have an agreed overdraft, 24% of which claim they ‘couldn’t live without’ it. The study also revealed that almost 1 in 3 of those with an overdraft felt ‘forced’ into it by their bank.
The UK’s leading daily city deals website, http://www.Groupola.com polled 1,184 people across the UK to find out their attitudes towards overdrafts and to discover what financial issues they experienced that lead them to arranging an overdraft.
The study, by http://www.Groupola.com, found that 78% of those polled had an arranged overdraft with their bank. Of those, 18% admit to constantly ‘living’ in their overdraft and 24% said they ‘couldn’t live without it’. 21% of the respondents with an overdraft said it was for ‘emergencies only’.
Almost half, 48%, with an overdraft said they requested it from their bank manager, whilst 1 in 3, 32% admitted to feeling ‘forced’ into having one.
A further 12% said they were ‘automatically’ given an overdraft limit with their bank account and, of these, 39% didn’t realise that they had to specifically opt out whilst signing up for the account.
The poll by http://www.Groupola.com found that 6% of those with an overdraft claimed they ‘never needed’ it, however only 2% said they have actively cancelled an agreed overdraft limit.
19% of the respondents with an overdraft said they arranged their overdraft as a student, 16% said it was for an ‘expensive purchase’ and 12% said it was simply because they were ‘offered one’. When asked ‘do you think an overdraft is a debt to worry about?’ two thirds, 66%, answered yes.
According to the study by http://www.Groupola.com, interest rates are common misconceptions of overdrafts, with 38% claiming they are unaware of their interest rates.
Mark Pearson, Chairman of http://www.Groupola.com, commented on the findings;
“Bank employees are set sales targets that they have to reach; unfortunately, these targets include things such as overdrafts. This is why it is then the consumers responsibility to fully understand what they are signing up to and what they are committing to.”
He continued,
“At Groupola.com, we are passionate about saving money for consumers and helping them get the best deal available. An overdraft can sound extremely appealing; it can almost seem like free money, but it will always be something that needs to be paid back at some point. There are always charges with credit; even it comes after an interest free period. I strongly suggest people research a bank before agreeing to opening an account or getting an overdraft.”
LINK http://www.Groupola.com
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For more information, please contact Charlotte Horsfall, of 10 Yetis Public Relations Agency on charlotte@10yetis.co.uk
Editors Notes
Groupola.com has saved £3.3m for consumers since launch
Overnight, Groupola.com became the biggest Group Buying Power website in the UK.
Groupola.com operates in 10 of the largest cities across the UK, including London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Nottingham, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Mark Pearson, Chairman of MyVoucherCodes is a regular media contributor regarding online shopping and the credit crunch. At 29 his personal worth is more than £30 million. Mark was previously a trainee chef working for Gordon Ramsay at Claridges, London.
MyVoucherCodes has had sales exceeding £481m in the last year