Our £793m loan to pals

FRIENDS lent their mates £793million in total last year – but more than 40% has not been paid back.

That equates to a loan of just under £15 to each of the UK’s 53million adults.

But 42% of 2,000 people polled were “too embarrassed” to ask for it back.

A quarter wrote a text rather than ask, while one in seven sent an email.

Darren Foulds, of Mobile Payments Barclays, said: “It’s great to see how generous the UK is, but the costs can quickly add up.”