As football clubs scramble to transfer money to secure their preferred players ahead of tonight’s transfer deadline, UK bill payers are preparing for their own rush. An estimated £5.8 billion1 is expected to leave UK accounts in payments and transfers tomorrow on the nation’s “transfer deadline day”, according to new research2 from Santander. This figure is six times higher than the record £870 million paid by the Premier League clubs during last summer’s transfer window.
The findings reveal that the first of the month is the most common transfer day for a third (29 per cent) of us with, on average, nearly half (47 per cent) of peoples’ salaries leaving their account each month for payments or transfers. More than a quarter (26 per cent) of Brits say they pay out 70 per cent or more.
The research shows that, like the football clubs, transfer deadlines are also a concern for many bill payers. Almost one in three (31 per cent) admit they are worried about not having enough money in their account on the day most of their outgoings are due to leave. A further 8.7 million3 (17 per cent) adults have missed a “transfer deadline” and made a late payment or transfer.
Former footballer Graeme Le Saux, commented: “Whilst we wait to see if this year’s transfer deadline day exceeds financial expectations and which clubs don’t make it across the line in time, it’s interesting to draw a parallel with the UK population. We all have our own transfer deadlines and like the clubs it can be a costly mistake to miss them.”
Money matters
Despite direct debits being a regular monthly expenditure; many bill payers are unprepared. Almost three quarters (72 per cent) don’t know the value of their direct debits and standing orders and 25 per cent don’t know how many direct debits and standing orders they have. 80 per cent admit they don’t know the date their payments leave their account(s).
Credit card providers are the most likely to receive missed or late payments, (22 per cent), followed by banks (18 per cent), utility companies (10 per cent) and family members (nine per cent). One in 10 (nine per cent) also admit to instances of not having enough money or forgetting to pay a landlord or mortgage provider.
Michelle Kent, UK Director of Digital at Santander, commented: “Our research shows that many people are not meeting their transfer deadlines or keeping abreast of their spending, which could be a real financial own goal. Online and mobile banking are great ways to keep on top of your finances; whether checking a payment or a bank balance, and can be easily accessed at any time of the day, from anywhere in the world. Santander also offers automatic alerts so customers can keep up-to-date and never need miss a transfer deadline.”
Transfers in the past 12 months
Online banking has been the most common method of transferring money over the past 12 months, used by 61 per cent of the UK population. One in five (20 per cent) adults has made a transfer using a mobile banking app, 22 per cent have done so in-branch while only eight per cent have used telephone banking.
Nearly seven in 10 people (67 per cent) say they regularly check their account using online or mobile banking, with 42 per cent saying it helps them to manage their finances and 34 per cent saying it makes it easier to time payments.
- ENDS -
The information contained in our press releases is intended solely for journalists and should not be used by consumers to make financial decisions.
Notes to Editors
1) Full time annual salary = £27,600 or £2,300 per month, taken from the latest ONS report. Monthly take home earnings = £1,828 after National Insurance and income tax. This monthly take home figure is just an estimate and does not include factors such as student loan repayments, pension contributions or any other automatic payments.
Average amount of salary paid = 47%. 47% of £1,828 = £859.16 paid in monthly payments. £859.16 * 23.217 million [number of full time employees earning a salary] = £19,947,117,720 national transfer bill every month.
29.3% of respondents say most of their payments leave their account on the first of the month. 29.3% x £ 19,947,117,720 = £5,844,505,491.96 estimated amount to leave accounts on the nation’s transfer deadline day, the day after the football transfer deadline day.
2) Research was carried out by Opinion Matters using an online methodology to survey 2,010 adults with at least one bank account. Fieldwork was carried out between 19/08/16 and 22/08/16.
3) Figure scaled up to represent UK population of adults according to the ONS (51,339,000)
About Us
Santander UK is a financial services provider in the UK that offers a wide range of personal and commercial financial products and services. It has brought real competition to the UK, through its innovative products for retail customers and relationship banking model for UK SMEs. As at 30 June 2016, the bank serves around 14 million active customers with c. 20,000 employees and operates through 847 branches (which includes 58 university branches) and 69 regional Corporate Business Centres. Santander UK is subject to the full supervision of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) in the UK. Santander UK plc customers are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) in the UK.
Banco Santander (SAN SM, STD US, BNC LN) is a leading retail and commercial bank, based in Spain, with a meaningful market share in 10 core countries in Europe and the Americas. Santander is the largest bank in the euro zone by market capitalization and among the top banks on a global basis. Founded in 1857, Santander had EUR 1.52 trillion in managed funds, 12,500 branches and 190,000 employees at the close of June 2016. In the first half of 2016, Santander made underlying profit of EUR 3,280 million.
Media Enquiries
Sarah Webster
sarah.webster@santander.co.uk
Tel: +44 (0) 207 756 5533 / Mob: +44 (0) 7568112529
The press office operates from 8.00am to 6.00pm. Outside of these hours please call 0800 5877708.