Subscription creep is a silent killer

Has a free trial of an application you downloaded ever turned out to be the most expensive trial?
 

Brits waste a collective £25 billion each year by paying for subscriptions they don’t use or want, new bank research claims.
 

TopCashback’s latest Subscriptions Index reveals:

• nearly a fifth of people never review their subscriptions and as a result:
• half of us are currently paying for a subscription we either don’t use or get value for money from
• 29% of people say they have forgotten they were paying for the service and
• the same number keeps paying for the services they don’t use in case they might want it in the future
• one in four people has continued to pay for a subscription without realizing the cost had increased
• a further 28% of those surveyed say they found canceling a subscription too hard so didn’t bother
• 4% have even unknowingly continued to pay for a subscription for an ex-partner

The list of most unused subscriptions include gym memberships, TV streaming services and music streaming plans.
 

Many customers also sign-up to the services on a free trial for the first month and 46% forget to cancel their subscription, meaning they are left paying each month for something they don’t use.
 

Natasha Rachel Smith, consumer money expert at TopCashback, says: “Consumers are paying extortionate amounts of money for subscription services they do not use or need due to forgetfulness.”
 

It’s easy to fall victim to “subscription creep”

Initially, customers are paying less, but this builds up during the period of payment. The problem is that these seemingly low fees for one of the subscriptions, on its own, are not a burden on the customers’ monthly budget but consumers in Europe, on average, spend 130 euros per month for subscriptions, such as video, music, sport, or food. This is about 5% of all their spending on subscriptions. The subscription economy in Europe is estimated to be worth 350 billion euros per year.
 

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