MANILA, Philippines - Filipinos are becoming more conscious about money matters, as seen in Citi's latest "Fin-Q" survey.
The survey showed Filipinos' "financial quotient" level hit an all-time high in 2011. Filipino respondents recieved an average score of 52.6 points, passing the survey for the first time since Citi started it in 2007. A passing score is a minimum of 50 points.
"The survey numbers in the Philippines are indeed very encouraging. The results show that Filipinos are becoming more determined to take charge of their finances and are responsible users of credit," Citi country officer Sanjiv Vohra said, in a statement.
However, the Filipinos' financial quotient was still lower than the average financial quotient in Asia Pacific, which was 54.5%.
The survey covered 500 respondents in 8 participating countries, namely Philippines, Australia, India, Indonesia, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand.
Asked about credit cards, 60% of Filipino respondents said they paid the outstanding credit card balance every month. This was a significant improvement from the 12% in the previous year.
Filipinos said their average retirement savings was P1.56 million, 11% higher from the previous P1.4 billion.
The survey also showed 42% of respondents say they save money every pay day.
A majority (70%) of Filipinos are using internet and mobile phone banking. More than half (52%) said they prefer making bank transactions through electronic means than going to the bank.
The Citi survey also showed 60% of the Filipino respondents felt better about their financial condition in 2011, compared to 2010. Even more Filipino respondents (80%) said they were "very optimistic" or "optimistic" about their future financial condition.
source: abs-cbnnews.com
