Complaints about financial firms to the independent Ombudsman Service were up by 18% during the second half of last year, after many banks and other providers wrongly rejected consumer gripes.
A coalition of charities and community groups today called on banks to increase access to financial services for the millions who are currently excluded.
Around 100,000 of the UK's poorest families will be crippled with £82 million of debt during 2010 after borrowing money from loan sharks to fund Christmas, research claims today.