UK: What does a Euro actually look like?

Research by norwichunion.com has identified that most Britons don't know what a Euro actually looks like.

norwichunion.com asked people what appeared on the front of the 100 Euro note - 90 per cent of those questioned failed to identify that a bridge-like structure appears on the note¹. Amazingly six per cent said the Queen's head is on the note.

Most people guessed that it features a map of Europe (40 per cent) - it doesn't.

There is a marked difference between men's and women's attitudes to the Euro - 46 per cent of men were able to correctly identify how many Euros there are in a pound, but only 29 per cent of women could do so.

Despite the introduction of the Euro in a number of European countries from 1 January 2002, a third of those people questioned thought it would make life more difficult when travelling on European holidays.

But different parts of the country showed greater familiarity with the Euro - two thirds of people in the Midlands admitted to not knowing what a Euro looked like. While Wales embraced the Euro the most - just under half of those questioned (four per cent) believed it would make European travel easier.

Rob Davies, brand manager at norwichunion.com, said: "We shouldn’t be so surprised by the results of the research. Attitudes to money are undoubtedly different in other parts of Europe when compared to the UK. When it comes to dealing in shares for instance, Germany is miles ahead of the UK, with more than a million and a half Germans trading online - this compares to a mere 300,000 people in the UK².

"This disparity may be due to our fears when it comes to money matters. Although the increasing accessibility of the internet has seen financial confidence grow - 82 per cent of online Britons claim they are able to manage their own finances².

"There are more effective ways of managing your money. More and more people are discovering there is a wealth of information to be found on the web."

norwichunion.com's online personal finance service aims to appeal to everyone - from novice investors to experienced day traders - and provides customers with a wealth of information and performance tools, designed to be jargon-free and make their financial decision-making easier and more personal.

It has just launched:

• Fund Supermarket Isa - with a range of funds all independently rated by Standard & Poor's.
• Online share dealing - featuring a virtual portfolio that enables users to 'try before you buy'.

norwichunion.com's online share dealing service and fund supermarket Isa can only be found at www.norwichunion.com.

-ends-

Media contact:
David Ross, Norwich Union Press Office, 08703 66 68 60

¹ Source: Proshare “Shares and share ownership facts and figures” (5th edition, November 2000).
² Source: norwichunion.com Wired Wealth Survey, January 2001
³ Source: norwichunion.com interviewed 1002 adults aged 16 and over between 11th - 13th December 2001, about their attitudes towards and general knowledge of the Euro.

Notes to editors:

• norwichunion.com was launched in May 2001 and provides a comprehensive range of free, interactive financial planning tools and impartial money guides, designed to help people make better financial decisions by making complex money matters simple.
• A fund supermarket Isa and share dealing service are the first in a range of products that will subsequently include a number of banking products.
• Norwich Union is the UK’s largest insurer offering a comprehensive range of long-term savings and general insurance products.
• Norwich Union’s news releases are available on this internet site
• A selection of images are available from the Norwich Union Newscast site at www.newscast.co.uk
• An ISDN facility is available for studio quality interviews. Call the press office on 08703 66 68 68

For life and pension media enquiries 08703 66 68 73 For all other media enquiries 08703 66 68 68

Please remember that past performance is no guide to future performance. These are risk investments and their value, and any income from them can go down as well as up.

The norwichunion.com online share dealing service is provided by Pershing Securities Limited (Pershing) who are regulated by the Financial Services Authority. By using the service, customers will form a contract with Pershing and all share trades effected by customers will be with Pershing. To market the service, Norwich Union Wealth Management Limited is regulated by the Financial Services Authority for investment business.

It a comprehensive range of free interactive financial planning tools and impartial money guides, including:

• A 60 second wealth check – visitors to the site can start here for a quick check on the areas of their personal finances that may need attention
• Wealth maximiser – an in-depth financial planning service to help people work out what they may need to do to become better off
• My wealth manager – an online income and expenditure management system and investment tracking service where users can update, monitor and manage their overall financial position and net worth
• Money news – up-to-the-minute money news from FT.com
• Knowledge centre – containing a wealth of straightforward and impartial information on personal finance topics, with a plain English jargon-buster