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

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/

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