Ten facts about Credit & Debt In 2010

Facts from Equifax for 2010.

* Nearly half of consumers feel more optimistic for 2011 – In a survey conducted in November 2010, Equifax found that nearly half of the respondents (42%) said that they feel more optimistic about their finances going into 2011 than they did for 2010. But women are less confident. Just over a third of women feel more optimistic about their finances in 2011 compared to this year, yet 45.5% of men feel more positive about their future finances. Nearly half of women (41.8%) are worried about job security for next year, compared to just over a third of men (34.1%).

* Not much hope for a pay rise in 2011 – Men are more hopeful of a pay rise in 2011 (37.9%), than women (25.8%) .

* Over two thirds of business affected by late payments – Of the more than 450 members of the ICM who responded to a joint survey with Equifax, 69% said their company has been affected by late payments this year, with 59% reporting an increase in late payments. The survey also showed that for over a third (35%), they are chasing late payments up to 3 days sooner than they were a year ago. A further 29% are chasing them more than 4 days sooner than they were a year ago

* Over 13% drop in business failures, at end of Quarter 3 2010 – The Quarter 3 Equifax Business Failures Report revealed a drop of 13.4% in the number of businesses going bust, compared to the same period in 2009. There was a 7.4% drop for Quarter 3 compared to Quarter 2 2010. The number of failures – at 6,646 for the Quarter – also brought the level of business insolvency closer to that experienced in late 2007 and early 2008 when the credit crunch first took hold of the economy.

* 129% increase in consumer requests for credit files – At October 2010, Equifax reported an increase of 129% in sales of its Statutory Credit Report Service in the last 12 months, and by a staggering 205% for October 2010 compared to the same month in 2009.

* Credit information has become much more integral to an individual’s financial management – Research conducted in March 2010 revealed that nearly a third (28%) of the buyers of credit reports said they had taken the action simply because they wanted to better manage their finances; 12% of respondents said they obtained a copy of their file because a recent credit application had been declined.

* Pocket money hasn’t changed with the recession – 73% of respondents to an Equifax survey in April 2010, said they had not changed what they give their children as pocket money, despite the fact that they have probably had to cut back on other expenditure for the family. The research did, however, reveal a focus on trying to encourage children to ‘earn’ their pocket money, with more than half saying they expect them to clean their room before they can receive their weekly allowance. Caring for their pets comes second as the chore that will ‘earn’ pocket money at 24%, followed by washing up at 21%.

* 35% of parents don’t believe their children have a good understanding of the value of money – Research conducted in April 2010 suggested that 35% of parents believe their children do not have a good understanding of the value of money; 94% believe financial education should be part of the national curriculum

* 19% of Facebookers don’t use privacy settings putting them at risk of ID fraud – Analysing one Facebook user’s friends , Equifax research revealed that, of 173 friends, 62% provide their full date of birth on their profile; over three quarters provide a personal email address and nearly a third provide the name of their employer. Whilst Facebook users may argue that they are only making this information accessible to their ‘friends’, the fact is that the data is available to all ‘friends’. So that could be someone they have just met – or someone they have known for years. It’s serious ID fraud risk

* 40% of smartphone users don’t use password protection – Equifax’s in-depth research of consumer attitudes to personal data reveals that nearly 1 in 3 respondents who own a smartphone said they use it for online banking, rising to 2 out of 3 for 22-25 year olds. Yet worryingly 53% of smartphone users admitted they don’t or are not sure if they clear their browser history and 24% don’t always log out of their social network or online banking sites leaving an open door to fraudsters.

Source: creditman.co.uk