The Select Committee on Financial Exclusion calls on the Financial Conduct Authority and Banks to give greater priority to tackling financial exclusion in the UK.
With more than 1.7 million people in the UK without a bank account and 40% of the working age population with less than £100 in savings, the Committee asks them to end the scandal of the poorest being excluded from even the most basic financial services.
Chairman of the Committee, Baroness Tyler of Enfield said:
"All too often, disabled customers are being failed by banks who are not adjusting their communications and procedures to serve them properly. We have heard of banks contacting deaf people by phone and sending written PIN numbers to blind people instead of using braille. Banks must review their own practices toward disabled customers to ensure they are making the reasonable adjustments already required of them by law. It is totally unacceptable that this situation persists, over twenty years after the introduction of the Disability Discrimination Act."
A total of 22 recommendations were made by the Committee. Disability Rights UK Policy and Communications Manager, Philip Connolly, gave evidence to the Committee regarding this report.