Europeans could avoid paying up to £7 billion[1] in financial charges every year thanks to digital innovation helping them better manage their finances, according to international money transfer company Azimo.

Azimo’s new research reveals nearly 90 per cent of consumers in the UK, Germany, Spain and France now use technology to manage their money rather than traditional banking and accounting services.

Of the 1,000 consumers surveyed in each country regarding their methods of personal financial management, the vast majority (86 per cent) believe new technologies will help them to avoid debt and unnecessary banking charges.

In fact, over half (53 per cent) of the respondents believe that innovative financial technology has helped them save up to £100 a year.

Interestingly, Germans prove the most dubious when it comes to fintech helping them manage their money better, with almost 1 in 5 (19 per cent) disagreeing with the clear majority of the respondents on the topic.

Spain take the crown when it comes to being the most digitally savvy at managing their money with just under 70 per cent (average across all countries surveyed is 57 per cent) of Spanish respondents opting for a mobile app as their technology of choice for managing their money.

“Thanks to technology, overcharging consumers when it comes to financial management is now a thing of the past,” says Michael Kent, Co-Founder and CEO of Azimo. “At Azimo, we’re focused on helping consumers better manage their money both domestically and internationally by giving them as frictionless an online transfer an experience as possible.  This new data is proof that technology is continuing to change the world of finance for the better and although there’s still a way to go to fully digitise the industry, it’s great to see the impact and benefits to consumers’.

The leading reasons for these savings according to the respondents across all the four regions surveyed include:

1. The ability to move money instantly between accounts to avoid overdrafts and charges.
2. Having instant visibility of what they are spending, allowing them to act accordingly.
3. Managing direct debits and standing orders themselves.

In the UK, the key statistics included:

• 90 per cent of consumers use technology to manage their money.
• Most Brits opt to use a desktop web login to manage their money (65 per cent) with just over half (57 per cent) also using an app.
• 4 in 5 (86 per cent) believe that digital ways of managing money will save them from debts and charges.
• 40 per cent of UK consumers claim they have avoided up to £100 in debt or charges from using technology to manage their money.
• Just 6per cent of Brits disagree that tech helps them to save them money.

[1]Calculated via extrapolation based on the research findings and the following adult population figures of each country per Eurostat 2017: UK: 52,852,169; Spain: 38,952,433; Germany: 70,475,844; France: 53,547,864.