Crime pays for bank robbers - until the fourth raid It concluded that it is often a poorly paid career path. The average proceeds from a bank robbery in the UK were £20,331, with a third of robberies yielding nothing at all. The average takings per person per successful raid were around £12,706.60, equivalent to less than six months' average wage. However, British raiders fare better than their counterparts in America, where the average raid yields just US$4,330 - or £2,787. The report also found that on average it is not until the fourth robbery that the criminals are caught and locked up for long prison terms. The research team highlight factors influencing the success of bank raids. These included the number involved in the raid, dubbed 'labour input', and whether firearms were displayed, called 'capital input'. The presence of firearms increased the rewards across all bank raids to an average return per person of £10,300.50p. There was a clear connection between the number of raiders and total takings - the bigger the gang, the greater the success, with every extra gang member raising the take on average by £9,033.20p. Even so, with extra gang members to share the proceeds, the haul per person decreases. Deterrent factors working against the raiders - such as bank security measures, activated alarms, and the number of bank staff and customers present - were also examined for their effectiveness. Of these, fast-rising security screens, which are present in only 12 per cent of UK banks and in even fewer banks in the USA, were most significant, reducing the probability of a successful raid by one third. Professor Neil Rickman, of the University of Surrey, said: "Although bank robberies will take place for a number of 'impulse-related' reasons, our evidence suggests that the takings they generate appear to be consistent with economic theory. This is useful information if we are thinking about how such activity may be combated in the future.