Younger savers choose fintech over ISAs

18-24 year olds are most likely to say they would like to understand more about investment products to better invest in them, compared with other age groups. One in four (25%) millennials say they would like to understand shares, commodities and currencies more before making investments compared with the average of 17%.

Half as many millennials place as much, if not more, trust in new fintech platforms than traditional providers compared with the national average (27% vs 17%).

This trust in new financial services such as social trading, P2P lending and crowdfunding is most accentuated in London and Scotland, where one in four (25%) Londoners and one in five (22%) Scots express confidence in the potential of these new platforms.

Yoni Assia, CEO of eToro, said:

“Cash ISA savings are dinosaur products that time forgot. Low interest rates and changes to savings taxation are resulting in the worst ISA season on record. Comparatively, our data shows eToro traders in the UK gained an average return of 2.9% per position. With so many alternative options, there is no need to accept consistently abysmal rates on savings accounts.

“The traditional financial system conditions people to be afraid of making their own decisions and that investing into the stock market is seen as risky behaviour. While investments can go up or down, studies have proved, time and again, that shares are one of the best long-term investments in the financial marketplace. They tend to outperform government bonds, corporate bonds, property and many other types of asset. When you take a longer view, you can see that stocks can add tremendous value.”