Survey reveals the average amount of money owed to Irish people by their friends and family

Remind you of someone?

It turns out that Irish people are generally a bit too generous with their cash (or a bit too stingy, depending on how you look at it) as Irish adults are on average owed €152 each through small loans they have made to their friends and family.

The figure comes from a new poll carried out by PayPal, whose research estimates that this could amount to over €575 million in unpaid debts nationwide and who are aiming to slash that figure by scrapping fees for Euro money transfers between friends and family on the PayPal app.

19% of consumers blame their failure to repay loans on not carrying enough cash on them, or not being able to access a cash machine.

And the implications of unpaid debts on personal relationships seem to be quite significant, as 25% of respondents state they will never lend money to their indebted loved one again, while 8% admit to having fallen out with their loved ones when a small loan has not been repaid.

Another interesting tidbit from the survey reveals that, despite the popularity of smartphones in Ireland, people still rely heavily on cash. Two thirds (67%) of the survey respondents state that they use cash most often to pay friends and family. In fact, Irish consumers carry more cash on them today (€57 on average) than they did two years ago (€39) – a stat that we're extremely baffled by, considering we haven't seen anyone have a fiver for a taxi since about 2010.

Louise Phelan, Vice President at PayPal, said: "Cash is still king in many people’s eyes, but it doesn’t deserve our loyalty. Cash comes with hidden costs and frustrations, both financial and personal. There seems to be an Irish taboo around asking to be paid back by friends and family.

"Almost a third of us prefer to do nothing and not ask to be paid back, leaving many people out of pocket.

"In this day and age, we should expect more from our financial services. We have these incredibly powerful computers in our pockets, which should make our lives easier."