Contrary to popular opinion, Britain is a nation of savers as over two thirds of us try to set aside money each month.
However we have many other monthly priorities - including insurance payments, telephone bills and subscription payments - that take precedence over our best savings efforts.
Making regular savings contributions still only takes up a tiny 0.6% of all our of monthly direct debit payments, according to a detailed study of the UK's payment methods carried out especially for This is Money by payments organisation Bacs to celebrate its recent 40th anniversary.
Paying for non-life insurance remained the top priority for people when it comes to setting up regular direct debit payments, which make up over 15% of the 2.85m payments made in 2006, up to which the latest figures are available.
This has overtaken life insurance, which makes up just over 13%, in recent years.
Although direct debit remains the most popular payment method for insurance, the number of people paying for their insurance costs via debit and credit card has doubled in recent years.
Perhaps in a sign of the increasing levels of cheap credit available this century, more and more people were giving less priority to their loan repayments and more to their telephone bills and subscription payments in the last three years.
Between 2000-2006, the number of people making regular loan repayments from their monthly salary fell by 2.2% to 6.2% of all direct debt payments.
Mark Chambers, the managing director of Bacs, said: 'In 2007 alone, we were responsible for processing more than 5.5bn payments. That's an average of 90 payments for every man, woman and child in the UK, a figure which puts us in a unique position when considering the changing household payments landscape.'
Making regular savings contributions still only takes up a tiny 0.6% of all our of monthly direct debit payments, according to a detailed study of the UK's payment methods carried out especially for This is Money by payments organisation Bacs to celebrate its recent 40th anniversary.
Paying for non-life insurance remained the top priority for people when it comes to setting up regular direct debit payments, which make up over 15% of the 2.85m payments made in 2006, up to which the latest figures are available.
This has overtaken life insurance, which makes up just over 13%, in recent years.
Although direct debit remains the most popular payment method for insurance, the number of people paying for their insurance costs via debit and credit card has doubled in recent years.
Perhaps in a sign of the increasing levels of cheap credit available this century, more and more people were giving less priority to their loan repayments and more to their telephone bills and subscription payments in the last three years.
Between 2000-2006, the number of people making regular loan repayments from their monthly salary fell by 2.2% to 6.2% of all direct debt payments.
Mark Chambers, the managing director of Bacs, said: 'In 2007 alone, we were responsible for processing more than 5.5bn payments. That's an average of 90 payments for every man, woman and child in the UK, a figure which puts us in a unique position when considering the changing household payments landscape.'
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