The shadow of Brexit has loomed over the UK for more than three years. On January 31, after 47 years of membership, the country finally left the EU, marking a huge political and economic shift.

But the uncertainty is still not over. The government now has until the end of 2020 to negotiate with the EU in the hope of striking a free trade deal. If it’s unsuccessful, the UK will have to revert to World Trade Organization trading rules, putting up trade barriers that are likely to damage both the UK and EU economies.

Despite this, the Bank of England is hopeful UK growth will improve in 2020, and has held interest rates at 0.75% – good news for borrowers but
not for savers. Meanwhile, a record number of women in full-time work has pushed the UK’s employment rate to a new high of 76.3%.

But higher employment is not translating into higher consumer spending. At the end of 2019, monthly sales had not increased for five consecutive months -the longest run since records began in 1996. And British consumer borrowing is rising at the slowest rate in five years.

While it’s a potentially worrying time for UK financial institutions, it could also present exciting opportunities for companies in the fintech space. To give you the insight to innovate, we surveyed 1,000 British consumers to find out about their behaviour and attitudes around banking, borrowing, investing and more.