July 28, 2010

$600 million: Amount spent by some 1,000 lobbyists on the financial reform Act.
— Center for Responsive Politics

35% of people would gladly leave their big bank if it were easier.
— FindABetterBank.com

35% of people surveyed in 2010 stated that they “prefer to pay in cash for everything I buy”, which is down from 54% in 2002, but up from 18% in 2008.
— Visa U.K.

1 in 4 people in the U.S. now have a FICO score below 599. That’s 43.4 million people.
— FICO

1/2 of consumers  say they are no longer on track to reach their savings goals for 2010. The key reasons cited were:

• Increase in cost of non-discretionary bills such as utilities, groceries and auto (58%)
• Unanticipated emergencies (30%)
• Difficulty balancing wants versus needs (20%)
• Buying on impulse (20%)

— American Express

$14,000: Amount consumers said they would try to save at the beginning of the year.
$12,000: Amount they now say they’re shooting for.
— American Express

75% of Americans say their debt has not increased over the last six months. 38% say their debt has actually decreased.
— American Express

More Americans say they have been focused on paying down debt (46%) than saving (29%) this year.
— American Express

76 percent of financial professionals use social technologies at least monthly for business purposes.
— Forrester Research

Subprime borrowers got just 9%, or $44 billion, of all consumer loans in the fourth quarter. That is down from 18% in 2007’s second quarter.
— Experian

5.5% of consumer loans (excluding home loans) were at least 30 days past due at the end of the second quarter, down from the year-earlier 6%.
— Equifax Inc. and Moody’s Analytics

59% of people keep less that $500 in their checking account.
— Raddon Report

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Previous related stories from The Financial Brand:

• What Gen X, Gen Y think about their financial situation
• Datahead: Research from around the financial industry
• Datahead: The reality of the financial consumer
• Survey proves value of online banking, bill pay

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