BSA: A healthy first quarter for the Child Trust Fund

BSA: A healthy first quarter for the Child Trust Fund

BSA: A healthy first quarter for the Child Trust Fund

Quarter 1 (Q1) 2007 – January – March

* 49,000 Child Trust Fund (CTF) accounts were opened in the first quarter of 2007 by providers that offer both the cash and stakeholder option
* 73% of parents opted for the cash CTF option in Q1, where a choice was offered
* The balances on cash CTFs rose £26.1 million in Q1
* To date, 513,000 cash CTF accounts have been opened, with £233 million in total balances

Important Note: Statistics above are from the providers of the cash CTF, not the whole CTF market. Please see Notes to Editor for a full list of cash providers

* Cash CTFs account for 25% of all CTFs opened by parents

Commenting on the figures, Brian Morris, Head of Savings Policy at the BSA said:

“The first quarter of 2007 has been a healthy one for the CTF with strong growth in cash CTF balances. It’s encouraging to see that the activity during CTF Week in January, in which building societies were prominent, and HMRC’s mailing to prompt parents in February, has had a positive effect.

“The CTF is now two years old and parents have opened accounts on behalf of over two million children. Cash CTFs remain popular, accounting for a quarter of all CTFs opened by parents. Total balances on cash CTFs now stand at £233 million.”

~ Ends ~

Notes to Editor

1. Building societies offering the cash CTF as at the end March 2007
were: Britannia, Cambridge, Chorley and District, Earl Shilton, Furness, Hanley Economic, Ipswich, Leeds, Monmouthshire, Nationwide, Shepshed, Skipton and Yorkshire. The other providers are: Abbey National plc, Clockwise Credit Union, Dragonsavers Credit Union, Leeds City Credit Union Ltd, Loans and Savings Abertawe and Methodist Chapel Aid Ltd. The BSA collects statistics from all but the Dragonsavers Credit Union.

2.The BSA has produced a leaflet to help answer parents’ questions on the CTF. Individual copies of the leaflet, The Child Trust Fund and Building Societies, can be obtained free of charge from the BSA website here or by calling the BSA consumer line on Tel: 020 7437 0655.

3. 39 building societies currently offer Child Trust Funds. 13 of the
19 providers of the cash CTF are building societies. 17 of the 19 cash providers are mutuals.

4. Photographs of Brian Morris are available from the BSA press office, or from the Association’s website at www.bsa.org.uk or Headlinemoney www.headlinemoney.co.uk

5. The Building Societies Association (BSA) represents all 60 building societies in the United Kingdom. Building societies have total assets in excess of £310 billion and hold residential mortgages of almost £210 billion, approximately 18% of the total outstanding in the UK. Societies hold almost £200 billion of retail deposits, accounting for over 19% of all such deposits in the UK. Building societies also account for over 37% of all cash ISA balances. Building societies employ almost 50,000 full and part-time staff and operate through around 2,150 branches.

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Rachel Le Brocq
Press and Public Affairs Officer
The Building Societies Association
6th Floor, York House
23 Kingsway
London
WC2B 6UJ

Don’t forget that the BSA’ s Annual Conference is being held in Bournemouth on 23 and 24 May 2007. Further details on the Conference are available at www.bsaconference.org