The Smart Data Foundry is a not-for-profit organisation based in Edinburgh that provides a secure platform for sharing and utilizing data. Its goal is to enable access to high-quality, anonymized datasets for use in research, innovation, and policy development. The organisation works with partners from various sectors, including industry, academia, and government, to facilitate responsible data use.
The Smart Data Foundry focuses on creating a secure environment where data (particularly banking data) can be shared and analysed while maintaining privacy and ethical standards. The platform supports projects aimed at addressing issues like financial inclusion, healthcare, and climate change by providing access to diverse datasets that may otherwise be inaccessible.
The FAI has partnered up with the Smart Data Foundry to showcase some of the indicators that can be derived from the data available through the organisation. We will be particularly interested in drawing on indicators that can tell us how households are coping through the current economic times.
With that in mind, in our most recent Quarterly Economic Commentary we looked at overdraft use in Scotland, which could be a sign of financial stress for households. Overdraft usage dipped to a low of 11.3% in January 2021, likely due to reduced spending during pandemic lockdowns. Since then, there’s been a steady increase, reaching 13.4% by October 2023 and stabilising around 13% into 2024.
Chart: Overdraft Use Percentage in Scotland
Source: Smart Data Foundry
The data also allows you to use personal characteristics to analyse how such metrics vary for different groups in the population.
Chart: Scotland Overdraft Usage Trends by Age and Income
Source: Smart Data Foundry
A closer look at this data reveals that overdraft usage increased most significantly among young Scots aged 18–39 earning less than £25,000. Their usage rose from 18.6% in April 2020 to over 24% by late 2023. This sharp rise indicates growing financial pressure on young, low-income individuals, who may be turning to overdrafts to cope with rising living costs. In contrast, overdraft usage among older age groups and higher-income earners remained relatively stable.
In future editions of our Commentary, we will showcase more indicators from the Smart Data Foundry which can shed a light on the financial position of households.
If you are a researcher who would be interested in accessing the Smart Data Foundry data, get in touch with the team at research@smartdatafoundry.com.
Authors
Mairi is the Director of the Fraser of Allander Institute. Previously, she was the Deputy Chief Executive of the Scottish Fiscal Commission and the Head of National Accounts at the Scottish Government and has over a decade of experience working in different areas of statistics and analysis.