United Kingdom
Without a bank account
Key points
- The proportion of low-income households without a bank account has fallen sharply in recent years, from 20-25% in the mid-1990s to 6% in 2005/06. The fall has been particularly sharp in the two years since 2003/04.
- The fall in the proportion of low-income households without a bank account has largely coincided with the introduction of two new types of account, namely basic bank accounts and post office card accounts. If, as some argue, post office accounts should not be included as a proper account because of their limited functionality, the proportion of low-income households without an account in 2005/06 rises from 6% to 11%.
- Half of all households with a post office account only are in the poorest fifth of households, with most of the remainder in the second poorest fifth. Although some 2% of households with above-average incomes have no account whatsoever, almost none have a post office account only.
Graph 1: Over time
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Graph 2: By type of account
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Why this indicator was originally chosen
It is becoming increasingly important for people to have the benefits of modern financial services. A range of other benefits and conveniences become available with access to even simple financial services. For example, lack of a bank account can mean higher prices for basic utilities than those paying by either cheque or direct debit, labour market disadvantage (employers tend to expect to pay wages directly into accounts), and limited access to credit.
Definitions and data sources
The first graph shows the proportion of households without a bank, building society or any other kind of account. The data is split to show households in the poorest fifth of the income distribution and for households on average incomes (middle fifth of the income distribution) separately. Income is household disposable income, equivalised to take account of household composition and is measured after deducting housing costs.
The data source for the first graph is the Family Resources Survey (FRS). The data relates to Great Britain (FRS did not cover Northern Ireland prior to 2002/03). As well as bank and building society accounts, the figures also count any savings or investment accounts as well as post office card accounts but do not include stocks and shares, premium bonds, gilts, Save As You Earn arrangements or Credit Unions.
As the first graph shows, the proportion of households without an account has fallen sharply in recent years. This fall has largely coincided with the introduction of two new types of account, namely basic bank accounts and post office card accounts. Some people argue that these new types of account, particularly the post office card account, should not be considered to be true accounts as they have only limited functionality. In this context, the second graph shows, for the latest year and for differing levels of household income, the proportion of households with only a basic bank account or a post office card account. Note that such an analysis was not possible for years prior to 2005/06. Also note that the small number of households with both a basic bank account and a post office card account but no other accounts are included in the 'basic bank account only' category.
Overall adequacy of the indicator: medium. FRS is probably the most representative of the surveys that gather information on the extent to which people have bank and other types of account but the inclusion in recent years of people with post office card accounts only is arguably distorting the trends over time.
External links
- See the New Policy Institute's 2007 report for the Friends Provident Foundation entitled A snapshot of financial inclusion. Policy and practice in the UK 2007. Also see their other reports entitled Meaningful choices: the policy options for financial exclusion, More than just a PIN number: young people, financial responsibility and exclusion, Gateways: route to financial services, Quality assurance or benchmarking? Presenting information about pensions and Financial exclusion: can mutuality fill the gap?
- See the 2004 Treasury report entitled Promoting financial inclusion and their 1999 report entitled Access to financial services.
- For a discussion of some of the issues relating to older people, see Help the Aged's 2007 policy statement.
- For a discussion of some of the issue relating to young adults, see Centrepoint's 2005 report entitled Too much too young, problem debt among homeless young people.
- For a discussion of some of the issue relating to children, see the Financial Services Authority 2000 report entitled A cycle of disadvantage?.
- For a discussion of some of the issue relating to rural areas, see the Commission for Rural Communities 2007 State of the Countryside report.
Relevant 2007 Public Service Agreements
None directly relevant.
Relevant government policies
The numbers
Graph 1
| Year | Poorest households | Households with average incomes |
|---|---|---|
| 1994/95 | 23% | 5% |
| 1995/96 | 23% | 5% |
| 1996/97 | 24% | 5% |
| 1997/98 | 23% | 5% |
| 1998/99 | 22% | 4% |
| 1999/00 | 23% | 4% |
| 2000/01 | 22% | 4% |
| 2001/02 | 20% | 4% |
| 2002/03 | 19% | 5% |
| 2003/04 | 16% | 4% |
| 2004/05 | 9% | 3% |
| 2005/06 | 6% | 3% |
Graph 2
| Household income group | No account | Post Office Card Account only | Basic bank account only |
|---|---|---|---|
| Poorest fifth | 6% | 5% | 5% |
| 2nd | 4% | 3% | 3% |
| Households with average incomes | 3% | 1% | 1% |
| 4th | 2% | 0% | 1% |
| Richest fifth | 2% | 0% | 0% |