Rising inflation: The urgent need to wake up 27 million sleepy savers

Published: 17 Jun 2021

Commenting on today’s inflation figures1, Alistair McQueen, Head of Savings & Retirement at Aviva said:

“Today’s rising inflation, to 2.1%, comes at the same time as record billions are being saved through the pandemic. The latest Bank of England data indicates that a record £1.7trn is being saved by households in cash, up by nearly £200m over the last year2. That averages at extra cash savings of about £7,000 per household over the past 12 months.

“With the average instant access account paying just 0.1%3, the need to shop around is greater than ever. Yet, research from Aviva4 indicates that fewer than one-in-three (31%) have considered the return on their savings relative to other accounts over the past 12 months. 69% have not. With almost 40 million adult savers in the UK, 69% equates to about 27 million sleepy savers5.

“In today’s time of uncertainty the desire to save is understandable. But these savers risk losing millions when a better return on their money could be a click away.

“Aviva has launched its new Aviva Save6 proposition to help this community. Aviva’s new online service presents a range of banks and accounts, accessible via one login.

“With rising inflation, there is an urgent need to wake up Britain’s 27m sleepy savers.”

-ENDS-

Sources

  1. https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/bulletins/consumerpriceinflation
    /may2021
  2. https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/statistics/money-and-credit/2021/april-2020
  3. https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/statistics/effective-interest-rates/2021/april-2020
  4. Survey of a nationally representative sample of 6,698 UK adults conducted by Boring Money in January 2021. 4,411 UK adults say they hold a cash savings product.
  5. Page 51 of FCA report states 77% of adults hold savings accounts - https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/research/financial-lives-survey-2020.pdf
  6. https://www.aviva.co.uk/investments/aviva-save/

Media Enquiries

Fiona Whytock

Retirement, Savings and Investments

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