Seven in 10 people are using daily trade offs or ‘everyday offsets,’ according to research from first direct bank.

This is compared with an estimated 6.5% who have recently taken a similar approach with their home loan by offsetting their savings against their mortgage.

The leading reason people make trade offs is to make the most of their money (35%) with a further quarter saying it just makes sense. 23% said it helps them enjoy their life more.

First direct has calculated that 40% tax payers, with an average £183,532 mortgage and typical cash savings of £36,706, could save nearly £36,600 each in interest costs if they used the tax efficient benefits of an offset mortgage rather than a repayment style mortgage.

“While offset mortgages-holders are still in the minority, and many people may not even know what an offset mortgage is, it appears that the vast majority of people enact some form of offset in their everyday lives,” said Davnet Reid, head of customer marketing at first direct.

“They may not even be conscious that they are doing it, but they are instinctively weighing up their options and making a trade off that gets them the best deal and makes their money work hardest for them.

“Those people who have already made the trade off of reducing their current expenditure in order to save money for the future may find that their money works even harder if it is offset against their mortgage, foregoing interest on their savings to reduce the size of their loan they have to pay interest on.”