Research released by Paym – a way to pay friends and family using just their mobile number – has recently shed light on the real reason why so many young people aged 18-25 have been finding themselves short-changed this summer, and it might not be what you expect. A whopping 92% of them lend cash to close friends during this period with IOUs racking up to an eye-watering £148 million. To help put that into perspective; that’s enough money to sell out Glastonbury Festival six times over.
There’s no denying the fact that times are hard and jobs are often few and far between but when you consider that only 14% of these small cash-in-hand loans are used to cover household costs compared to 38% of them being used to fund drinks on a night out, it brings home the continued importance of an active social life amongst this age range and the main motivation behind these friend-to-friend deals.
It can be a quick, stress-free, no strings attached way to get a quick cash fix when you find yourself in a tight spot, and the fact that only 4% of people actually rely wholeheartedly on their friends to finance their social life shows that necessities like bills and food do still come first. It’s important however to note that a significantly higher 71% admit that the process of borrowing and lending between close friends can cause tension, particularly when the gesture is not reciprocated or the loan itself swiftly repaid.
This is where young people’s enthusiasm and embracement of technology can come in handy to help avoid said problem. Paym is a secure way to send money directly into a current account without the need to exchange sort codes or account numbers. All you need is the recipient’s mobile number, making it much easier to repay your friends the money you owe them as and when you have the sum available. The service, which cleverly appeals to the 44% of young people who depend on online and mobile banking facilities, is already accessible for more 30 million customers of Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Cumberland Building Society, Danske Bank, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds Bank, Santander and TSB. You can find out how to register here, with planned expansions opening it up to a further 10 million this year, by which point it will be available for 9 out of 10 current accounts.
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