Thursday 28th December 2006
Alliance & Leicester has announced that nearly half of Britons admit to raiding their savings accounts in 2006 to pay for purchases.
In a recent survey conducted by the bank, 42 per cent of respondents said they had used some of their savings to buy things during the year.
About 19 per cent said they had not saved as much as they would have liked, although four out of five claimed 2007 would be the year to begin saving in earnest.
Helen Palmer, head of current accounts at Alliance & Leicester, said: "Unless people commit to saving a set amount on a monthly basis it is highly unlikely that they will get round to saving any money."
She added that "some people are still living in the dark ages" by keeping savings in a piggy bank rather than in a high-interest savings account.
Ms Palmer encouraged the 45 per cent of consumers who intend to save a monthly amount in 2007 to consider doing so by a regular payment into an account.
Lloyds TSB recently launched its Save the Change credit card which rounds purchases up to the nearest pound and transfers the surplus into a savings account.
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