New research by Alliance & Leicester is offering interesting insight into how finances are handled between married and unmarried couples, particularly the lack of financial commitment for those unmarried.
Based on findings that showed 57% of unmarried cohabiting couples don’t have a joint account and that 23% of married couples don’t trust their partner’s spending habits, the high street lender claims one in three couples are affected by financial commitment phobia.
Although financial commitment was more common among married couples than unmarried, the findings showed that couples wished to retain some financial independence when banking even after they were married. A third (31%) of all couples hold separate bank accounts and a further third (32%) prefer to keep their options open with money both in a joint account and a separate account in their own name.
The report also pointed to a woman’s passion for shopping as one motive for female financial independence and suggested that more men than women claim responsibility for managing a couple’s finances.
One area where neither men nor women really take responsibility was in choosing a joint account. The research showed that just 17% of couples shop around for the best deal and over half simply opt for an account with the bank one of the couple already banks with.
Simon Ripton, current accounts manager at Alliance & Leicester, said: It is interesting to see that many people are only prepared to commit to each other financially after tying the knot. Yet love is not enough for a quarter of couples who still don’t commit financially after marriage, with 23% of married people banking solely from separate accounts.
Worrying too, is the fact that many couples with current accounts miss out on the most competitive deals by failing to shop around. The current account market has never been so competitive so it makes sense to find the right deal to suit your needs.