Savers Struck with Apathy and Confusion

There is a high level of confusion among savers, according to research by Test Research (part of the MORI group) on behalf of the Royal Bank of Scotland.

The survey found that people are more likely to plan to save more in the next year than aim to take out a loan. However, there is a surprising lack of awareness about the interest rates offered with seven in ten savers admitting that they do not know the interest rates on their savings account.

Only one in three savers compared the rates of different accounts on offer when they took out an account; three in five have never compared rates to see if they could move to get a better deal.

Of those who do look around, two thirds examine up to four competitive accounts. However the majority of these (82%) do not actually switch their accounts.

A belief that new accounts would not remain competititive (77%) and lack of time to check on the rates offered (59%) help explain this.

Technical details

The survey was conducted among a nationally representative sample of 1,355 current account holders aged 18+ (982 savers) in August 1997.