Gender affecting women’s bank accounts

Women today can be a yummy mummy or a career woman, a country bird or a city slicker, but one thing over half the population of UK women have in common is that they are FRUMPS, according to research released today by Payfriendz.

Findings shows that it?s not just the paygap that is affecting women?s bank accounts, but their gender also plays an role in being too generous and not asking for debts owed.

Of 2,000 people surveyed, over half women admitted they were owed money from friends or family that they would never get back. Why? Because most will not ask for fear of impacting the friendship, a huge 66% feel too embarrassed to ask for it back.

?       Women are 20% more likely than men to lend money to a friend when they are short of cash. A third (34%) admit they are likely to pay for a group meal and 1 in 5 collect the money for a group gift never to be paid back. Adding to this, four friends currently owe the average lady money, with this being higher for those aged 25-34 where it increases to six people.

?       Of those women who do ask for it back, it seems a British woman?s tendencies are holding them back from being direct with 8 out of 10 preferring to send an SMS rather than face to face. One in ten admit they now no longer talk to a friend because of an unpaid debt and this is a risk British women don?t want to take as 15% refuse to ask for money back at all.

?       It?s those in the North East who are most affected with the average amount being owed ?583, while surprisingly Londoners are the least likely to be in this position admitting to having ?197 outstanding, way below the national average of ?330.

?       Ironically it?s those with a career in finance that end up most out of pocket with 70% of the industry admitting they felt too awkward to ask for it back. The profession most likely to forfeit the friend over the debt is Legal eagles, while employees in healthcare have experienced the most number of friends who are less willing to cough up. Those who work in the arts are worried they will be perceived as stingy and a third of marketers worry their friend still doesn?t have the money.

Payfriendz is leading the way money changes hands in social situations through their innovative app which integrates mobile payments with a chat feature making it simple to ask for cash. It allows you to send and request money securely from friends and family without the need to exchange numerous bank details or the need for an awkward walk to a cash machine.