Government Embarrassed as 'Unbanked' Figures Rise

The overall number of Britons who do not have a bank account is on the rise, official government figures from the Treasury have shown.

According to the data, the group numbered 2.09 million people - and 1.37 million households - in the 2006/07 financial year, slightly up from 2005/06. The rise will prove embarrassing for ministers, especially as they pledged in 2004 to halve the "unbanked" number to 1.4 million.

Moreover, the total - which is almost exclusively made up of those on low incomes - represents around 4.5 percent of the total UK population, and over five percent of the total number of households.

Responding to the figures' release, Adam Clark at the financial inclusion charity Toynbee Hall, said: "Not having access to a bank account often means paying more for gas, electricity and other bills because you have to use expensive key meters and cannot set up direct debits which qualify for discounts."

Speaking to the Press Association, he added: "Getting a job can be difficult too, because many employers insist on paying wages directly into a bank account."

For its part, the Treasury pointed out that the rise fell within the survey's margin of error - and therefore the actual "unbanked" total might have gone down. In a statement, it added that it would be "unwise to draw firm conclusions" from the figures.

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