Users of money management tech have double the national average of savings and overall wealth

  • Customers, on average, hold an overall wealth of £429,970, nearly twice as high as the national average of £239,096, and hold £3,000 more in savings

  • Average net worth of a customer with a challenger bank account in addition to their main bank account is over a third higher than those without

Analysis of high level anonymised data from Moneyhub, a financial insights platform for individuals and enterprises, finds users have almost double the national average of savings, investments and overall wealth.

The average user holds an overall wealth of £429,970, 1.8 times higher than the national average of £239,096[1], and almost £3,000 more in savings, with £8,420 nestled away compared to the average of £5,660[2].

From 2015-16, the use of money management apps to manage saving, credit card and mortgage/investment accounts has increased by 30%, 46% and 86% respectively[3]. Today, over 70% of adults in the UK (38 million people) use online banking[4]. While the majority of financial apps and digital tools are aimed at supporting everyday spending, this research reveals people are also using them for more complex, long term financial planning, such as managing investments and savings.

According to Moneyhub, the average net worth of a user with a challenger bank account as one of their bank accounts is £331,906, a third higher than someone with only high street bank accounts at £247,164.

Samantha Seaton, CEO of Moneyhub, commented: “In the debate on digital money tools and apps, the industry has been almost dismissive of their role in empowering people with their money. The perception has been that apps are almost only the preserve of hipsters to keep track of spending on avocados. Our analysis shows just how incorrect this perception is. The average net worth of a Moneyhub user to manage all of their finances, from investments, pensions, mortgages to current accounts and credit is nearly double the national average, demonstrating the strength of technology in supporting complex decision making.”

“It’s clear there is real appetite to harness technology for real time insight that in turn can help money work harder and go further. This insight supports the individual to take control, but also helps businesses, from financial advisers to retailers, building societies to insurers, understand and develop the propositions consumers need. Open banking is well underway and we’re only at the start of seeing the benefits this brings to financial wellbeing.”

The figures have been obtained using data from the Office for National Statistics on savings, investments and overall wealth, analysed against Moneyhub’s customers.

As one of the Open Banking pioneers, Moneyhub’s continued development with the announcement of its FCA authorisation has been extended to Payment Initiation Services Provider (PISP), giving it the ability to make payments and bank-to-bank transfers in addition to seeing all financial information in one place. It also launched its API gateway; the largest ‘one stop shop’ of personalised, permission based, financial data sources for businesses.

References

1 ONS: Wealth in Great Britain Wave 5: 2014 to 2016

2 ONS: Formal financial assets, summary statistics including aggregate: Great Britain, July 2010 to June 2016

3 ONS: Individuals with formal savings and investments

4 BBA: An app-etite for banking

5 UK Finance: The way we bank now