Over £0.7billion Left Unspent in Britain's Back Pockets

1st August 2014

New research from Lloyds Bank reveals that Britons are letting the pennies slip when it comes to looking after their cash. Overall, men have £20 and women have £10 unspent change each month, meaning we could be sitting on over £0.7bn that is left in our back pockets, houses, cars and offices.

Nearly all (91%) of respondents with loose change admit to regularly keeping it in a variety of places which could be put to better use. However, when challenged, half of us (49%) say that it is not worth the time it would take to put the money back into their account.

Unspent cash tables

Unsurprisingly, wallets and purses top the table with over half (43%) of respondents most often keeping hold of cash they could otherwise store in their bank account. This is closely followed by a money jar (17%), proving that individuals still like to store unconscious change in a set place. Unaccounted for money in the bedroom (7%) and pockets (6%) follows, while respondents also admit to having money lurking at the bottom of a bag (5%). In addition, a third (33%) will leave up to £5 in the location they use most often each week. (See table 1 attached)

Partner's pennies

When it comes to our partners' loose change, almost one in ten of us (8%) say that we would keep it or spend it on ourselves if we found it lying around. Men generally proved more honest than women with 78% stating they would give the cash back to their partner, while 70% of women said they would return the cash to their loved one.

Phillip Robinson, Director of current accounts for Lloyds Bank said: "The small change that we all leave lying around at home, in our cars and at work may not seem a lot, but it can really add up. Now that we're more likely to buy something online or pay by card, we pay less attention to unused cash and often forget about it. But if we want to make it work harder, it's a great opportunity to manage our money more wisely, and putting the small change away in accounts like Club Lloyds, where you can earn up to 4% can really make a difference over the year."

Lloyds Bank Save the Change

Save the Change ensures that every time a customer uses their Lloyds Bank debit card, the amount will be rounded up to the nearest pound and the difference transferred to a preferred Lloyds Bank savings account. Spending little and often can therefore make a big change to individuals' finances.