Cautious Consumers Use Their Noodle And Stay Put

THERE may be more comparison websites than there are things to compare, but consumers now seem to be sticking with what they’ve got, as interest rates make everybody a little more cautious.

According to the financial website, Moneyexpert.com, around 5.4million fewer people changed provider for household or financial services during the first half of the year, compared with the previous six months.

Credit card and mobile phone companies were the worst affected, with approximately 900,000 fewer people changing their credit cards and just under 1.5 million jumping from one mobile phone provider to another than during the previous six months. Although they’d be silly not to take a look at Noodle for scarily cheap calls.

Banks and lenders also saw significantly fewer customers remortgaging their homes with only 3 per cent of people changing their home-loan provider during the first half of 2007, almost half-a-million fewer than in the previous six months.

Moneyexpert.com’s Sean Gardner, who we presume is indeed a money expert, says: “The financial squeeze caused by higher interest rates has meant consumers are more inclined to stick with what they know and, in any case, providers are getting tougher.
The reality is that consumers are battening down the hatches in preparation for a rough ride as the mortgage becomes more expensive and disposable income reduces.”

Or maybe we just couldn’t be bothered with the hassle of changing anything.

Anorak

Posted: 23rd, July 2007 | In: Money Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink