Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A quarter of people say they could not live without their overdraft and one in five admits to being constantly in the red, a survey suggested today.
Around 78% of people have an arranged overdraft facility with their bank, although 21% said they would only use it in an emergency, according to discount website Groupola.com.
But 18% of those questioned admitted they were constantly overdrawn and 24% said they could not manage without the facility.
Only 6% of people said they had never used their overdraft, with 2% saying they had actively cancelled it.
Just under half of people with an overdraft said they had requested it from their bank manager, but 32% said they had felt forced into having one, while 12% said they had automatically been given one when they opened their bank account.
A fifth of people said they had first arranged an overdraft when they were a student, while 16% had taken one out to help cover an expensive purchase.
But despite 66% of people saying they considered an overdraft to be a form of debt to worry about, 38% admitted they had no idea how much interest they were charged on it.
Mark Pearson, chairman of Groupola.com, said: "An overdraft can sound extremely appealing, it can almost seem like free money, but it will always be something that needs to be paid back at some point."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments