Access to bank accounts 'has widened'

21/10/2009

The number of Britons with a bank account has risen in the last five years, the Treasury has said.

Figures from the Financial Inclusion Taskforce show that the total number of households without a bank account has dropped from over two million to around 900,000 since 2004.

Over the intervening years, the government and the banks themselves have been conducting an initiative to encourage people to sign up to accounts.

One of its original goals was to cut the household number by 50 per cent.

The advantages of keeping earnings and other cash in a bank account include greater security and access to lower-price direct debit gas and electricity deals.

Households might otherwise have to use prepayment meters for their fuel, which generally work out as more expensive over the long term.

Brian Pomeroy, chair of the Financial Inclusion Taskforce, said: "This is extremely good news and it means that many more people can now use transactional banking to make and receive payments as well as holding their money in a secure and accessible way ... we must not lose sight of the possibilities for making further inroads into the number of people who are unbanked."

Kevin Still, EuroDebt director, added: "We believe that no UK resident should be financially excluded from having a bank account and launched its pre-paid current account in July 2009 to allow people in financial difficulty access to a current account with totally transparent charges, with no charges for failed direct debits. It is subject to no credit checks and is available to people on a Debt Management Plan, an IVA or even bankruptcy.

"We are targeting not only people who don't have a bank account, but also those that incur substantial monthly bank charges."

Tags; Debt Management and Banking, Retirement Money Problems, Credit Card Lifestyle,

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