According to research by Lloyds Bank, the average UK adult spends £624/year on subscriptions they've forgotten about or barely use. That's £52/month quietly leaving your account — often hidden under obscure merchant names on your bank statement.
Where hidden subscription costs come from
Free trial never cancelled
Software, news sites, streaming services
Annual renewals you forgot
Antivirus, cloud storage, Adobe, domain names
Old gym memberships
Gym you haven't visited in months
Streaming creep
Netflix + Disney+ + Prime + Apple TV + Paramount
App subscriptions via Apple/Google
Hidden in App Store subscriptions list
Cryptic merchant names to look out for
UK banks often display the payment processor rather than the actual service. These are the most confusing:
How to find every hidden subscription
- Download 3 months of bank statements as CSV
- Filter for any recurring charge appearing monthly or annually
- Check Apple ID → Settings → Subscriptions
- Check Google Play → Payments → Subscriptions
- Check PayPal → Settings → Automatic Payments
- For each charge: did you use it in the last 30 days? If not, cancel.
The easier way
Use FinSavvy's free subscription tracker — connect your bank (read-only) and it automatically identifies every recurring charge, including the ones hidden under cryptic merchant names. Takes 2 minutes and finds what most people miss.