Around 300,000 married and de facto couples are keeping secret bank accounts from their partners, according to new research.
A survey of 1260 Australians conducted by Galaxy Research for TAL Life Insurance found while 66% of couples have joint bank accounts, 45% have an account their partner has no access to. Of this figure, 36% were married and 71% were de facto couples.
Holding separate accounts without providing access to a partner was common, with 45% taking this approach, of which 36% were married and 71% were de facto.
Having separate accounts but allowing partner access occurred for 18% of respondents.
Three per cent have secret accounts, with their partner having no awareness of it.
Secret accounts held by men hold an average of $30,000 to $37,000, while for women, the average amount was $22,300.
Eleven per cent of the secret accounts had more than $100,000, while 13% had between $50,000 and $99,000.
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