Financial illiteracy threatens mis-selling rise - IFS

clock

Mis-selling of financial products is likely to increase unless the industry acts to tackle the consumer knowledge gap in terminology and financial literacy, suggests research by the Institute of Financial Services.

In what the IFS describes as “a major audit” of the British consumer’s financial nous, the study discovered almost eight out of ten (79%) of people did not correctly identify the term ‘APR’ as the interest rate and cost of a loan, even though almost all of those people deem themselves to be confident about their finances. Similarly, this same report revealed three out of ten (29%) did not understand a standing order is best described as regularly paying the same amount of money to someone while 40% of people do not really understand financial products such as mortgages and Isa, while thr...

To continue reading this article...

Join Professional Adviser for free

  • Unlimited access to real-time news, industry insights and market intelligence
  • Stay ahead of the curve with spotlights on emerging trends and technologies
  • Receive breaking news stories straight to your inbox in the daily newsletters
  • Make smart business decisions with the latest developments in regulation, investing retirement and protection
  • Members-only access to the editor’s weekly Friday commentary
  • Be the first to hear about our events and awards programmes

Join

 

Already a Professional Adviser member?

Login

More on Your profession

PA360 2025: The day in pictures

PA360 2025: The day in pictures

Professional Adviser's flagship conference returned to London this month

Professional Adviser
clock 13 May 2025 • 1 min read
Why it's time for the adviser community to take some advice of its own

Why it's time for the adviser community to take some advice of its own

'We have to bring about positive change through ever-closer collaboration'

Cara Robinson
clock 13 May 2025 • 4 min read
Trial of former Titan Wealth employee rescheduled as defence prepares abuse of process argument

Trial of former Titan Wealth employee rescheduled as defence prepares abuse of process argument

Prosecution ready to proceed but court agrees to delay trial until late August

Sahar Nazir
clock 09 May 2025 • 2 min read