Brits in the dark about partner’s finances

10m people don’t know if their other half’s
money is banked or invested

One-Minute Read

According to Direct Line insurance, more than one in five
married people have not given their partner their current account
number, have denied their husband or wife’s access to their savings
details, or have a partner who doesn’t know the details of their
pension. About 16% of married people would not give their spouse
access to their credit card details.

These figures rise even further when expanded to include
unmarried couples. An estimated 10 million people are unsure of
where their partner’s money is banked or invested.

Earlier this year, a separate study by GoCampare found that one
in eight people said their partner doesn’t know how much they have
in savings and 7% have actively kept it a secret.

Research has found that women are five times more likely than
men to keep their savings a secret.

“Financial secrecy extends to modern technology too,”
says The Independent, with another recent survey
suggesting a third of Brits wouldn’t give their partner their phone
access code.

While compromising messages or photos was one of the reasons
given, the majority of those questioned said it was because their
phone had banking details stored on it and they did not want their
partner to access it.

Georgie Frost, consumer advocate at GoCompare, said “an
important thing to take away from this research is how we’re
starting to see a long-term shift towards people wanting to stay in
financial control, particularly women.”