Marvin OnumonuBanking and insurance staff pay out of their own pockets for work travel and wait weeks to get their money back, research from Roomex found.
The survey showed 76% of financial services workers regularly paid for travel costs like hotels and transport using their personal money or credit cards.
Of those, a third (32%) waited more than three weeks for reimbursement.
On top of that, employees spent an average of £68.20 per day on extras they could not claim back, such as activities while away from home.
Additionally, the results found 70% struggled to find enough choice when it came to hotels, transport, or healthy food.
Two in five (39%) said frequent travel affected their work-life balance.
One in four (23%) said employers could do more to plan travel and avoid last-minute problems, while nearly half (45%) wanted better support with travel policies.
Meanwhile, over half (54%) said they had left or considered leaving a job because of how travel was handled.
Garry Moroney, CEO at Roomex, said: “The financial services industry has to scrutinise regulatory detail and cost control every day, yet many businesses within the industry seem to overlook the cost their staff are absorbing when travelling for work.
“When auditors and relationship managers are front-loading the cost per trip and then chasing reimbursement for weeks, frustration in the workplace will climb, morale slips and high-class talent risk walking out the door as a result.”
