Savers ‘more cautious’
May 22, 2008 by admin
Filed under News, News-Banking
It is not only the credit crunch that is having an impact on consumer confidence, the Newcastle Building Society has said.
A number of factors, including the financial crisis affecting Northern Rock last summer, as well as uncertain stock market performance prior to that, have led to people being more cautious with their savings, according to the company’s senior marketing executive.
Steve Urwin said that these events have led to consumers moving away from investing in high-risk products.
According to research by the building society, savers are more cautious today than they were a year ago, with one in ten preferring to stash their cash under the mattress rather than put it in a savings account.
Building societies often deal with more “naturally cautious” customers, according to Mr Urwin, and the organisation has recently seen greater interest in its fixed rate bonds and Guaranteed Equity Bonds.
“Fixed rate bonds offer a guarantee of rate for a fixed period and GEBs offer stock market linked growth but with absolute capital guarantees,” explained Mr Urwin.
