Do you trust your partner with your credit card?

Category: Money
Author: Leanne Macardle
Date: 15/02/2017

Love may have been in the air yesterday, but today, many people could be getting back to reality with a bump, particularly when it comes to their finances. Indeed, research shows that few couples trust one another with their cash, but given that a worrying number of those lie to their partner about their spending habits, it's little wonder.

Trust issues

Research from Paymentsense found that a third of respondents believe their partner is lying to them about how much money they spend, which could actually be a fairly accurate representation of individual behaviour: after all, 40% of women admit to lying to their partner about what they spend their money on, and the same is true for 38% of men.

There are variations in what they lie about, however, with one in 10 women lying about how much they spend on food, and 16% saying things were on sale so they can say purchases were cheaper than they actually were. Meanwhile, 23% of men have lied about their alcohol spending, and they are more likely to lie about gambling.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, couples aren't particularly trusting when it comes to their financial products – only 46% of married couples surveyed trust their partner with their credit card, which given such widespread dishonesty, is little wonder!

Couples that save together…

Perhaps one way to boost financial trust in a relationship is to have a joint current account, something that could be particularly suitable for sharing the responsibility of household bills. The same could apply to credit cards – if you're both on the account you'll both get the same statements, so there's nowhere to hide!

And what about savings? Setting a goal and both squirrelling away money into the same savings account could be a great way to build trust and work towards a larger goal, be it a first home together, renovations, a holiday or even a wedding. Spending time going through the budget together could also pay dividends – it may not be the most romantic of pastimes, but if you're both on the same page and are working together, you may end up being a whole lot more trusting with each other.

What next?

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