Lack of Financial Education no Barrier to Money-wise Brits

Lack of Financial Education no Barrier to Money-wise Brits PR Newswire LONDON, July 20, 2012 LONDON, July 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Brits claim to have the lowest level of formal financial education in Europe Yet we're more financially savvy than the French, German and Spanish Though UK citizens are least likely to switch banks, in spite of their financial know-how When it comes to having financially savvy citizens, Britain is ranked among the best in Europe. This is despite the fact that Britain is, according to new research, the least financially educated country in Europe, with more than half of the population (52%) claiming to have never received any formal financial education. Savings and mortgage provider ING Direct put more than 11,000 Europeans through a series of 'financial competence' tests to measure their understanding of key financial issues. Participants were asked to answer a series of questions ranging from how interest rates worked, how they thought rising inflation rates would affect them and how monthly mortgage payments were calculated. Britons came out with a better score when it came to financial awareness than their German, French and Spanish counterparts, with three in 10 (31%) passing ththe financial test to stand 4 out of the 11 European countries tested.