Cash-crisis Britons are money-wise
Updated on 03 October 2008
The recent financial turmoil is forcing people to become more responsible when it comes to handling their money, new research showed.
One in five people who are classed as sub-prime borrowers, suggesting there is a higher risk that they will default on their debt, said they had resolved to try to improve their credit ratings in the coming months.
Around 14% said they had also checked their credit rating to try to find out how much financial trouble they were in, according to market analyst Mintel.
The latest figures contrast strongly with a similar poll undertaken by the group two years ago.
In 2006 financial inertia ruled the day with 42% of people questioned saying they had never changed their bank account, and over a quarter saying they "only had a vague idea" what the interest rate on their account was.
Toby Clark, a senior financial analyst at Mintel, said the results were "the first real indication that people are taking their finances seriously".
"If anything positive is to come from all this chaos, it is that people are starting to take an interest and pay more attention to their personal finances," he said.
The group added that the current turmoil could also lead to a "more stable, cautious, more tightly regulated and partially nationalised finance sector".
It said: "This will enable those financial institutions that have survived to operate on a more favourable playing field and should enable the industry to take a more sensible approach to the pricing of risk.
"This, combined with consumer's more hands-on approach to their finances, means that something positive could well come out of this financial crisis."
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