This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Telltale signs of financial abuse, such as depleted savings, increasing debts and declining credit scores, can be identified in bank records, according to an analysis of U.K. banking data published in Nature. The findings reveal up to 373 indicators of financial behavior that could help pinpoint customers who may be experiencing economic abuse.
Financial abuse is a type of domestic abuse in which the abuser can restrict the victim's access to money, sabotage their finances or exploit them for financial gain. An estimated £14.4 billion of debt in the U.K. is thought to be related to economic abuse (this estimate is in 2020 prices, or £18.78 billion in 2026 prices). Although financial abuse is prevalent, it is frequently overlooked by the criminal justice system because of a lack of clear evidence.
Anna Trendl and colleagues analyzed retail bank data from 5,428 female victim-survivors of financial abuse in the U.K. and identified 373 indicators of financial abuse that appeared as much as seven years before the abuse was disclosed. The researchers found that victim-survivors had credit scores 109 points lower and were 31.9 percentage points more likely to have unpaid debts than those in the control group. They also found that victim-survivors had higher overdrafts, lower savings balances, high loan repayments, higher overdraft charges and more cash withdrawals.
Those experiencing abuse spent less on self-care (including dental care, eye care and sports) and more at stores selling alcohol, at gas stations and on legal expenses. Password resets, PIN reorders and reports of lost or stolen bank cards were also more frequent among victim-survivors in the study. The authors note that the population analyzed may not represent the average victim-survivor of financial abuse, and further work is needed to analyze how these results could be generalized to a broader population.
The findings offer insight into how financial abuse can appear over long periods, rather than in a single incident that may lead a victim to disclose the abuse to their bank. The findings could also help guide the development of vulnerability indicators and intervention strategies to support victim-survivors. Anna Trendl et al, Banking records reveal characteristics of financial abuse, Nature (2026).
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-11049-7 MA in English, copy editor since 2021 with experience in higher education and health content. Dedicated to trustworthy science news. Full profile → Bachelor's in mathematical biology, Master's in creative writing.
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