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Good morning. I'd like to open a bank account, please. A current account? Yes, please. For

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millions of European citizens, this simple banking transaction is unthinkable. Not having

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access to a basic bank account is a form of financial exclusion. Financial exclusion means

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not being able to do this type of thing, either not having access to financial products or

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services or not being able to make use of them. According to a recent study undertaken

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by the European Commission, millions of citizens don't have a bank account. Certain European

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countries are more affected than others. We're in Warsaw, capital of Poland. According to

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the latest Eurobarometer, more than 40% of the population is outside the banking system.

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From our research, this problem is not just connected with levels of income, but also

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how the people think about financial services. People all the time have a bad attitude toward

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financial institutions and towards all financial systems. A good number of Poles prefer to

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work with cash. The banking system doesn't yet have everyone's confidence. At a time

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when financial services are being modernized at a fast pace, this type of attitude can

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lead to stigma and even social exclusion. But for many Europeans, not using banking

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services is rarely a choice. In Great Britain, more than 2 million citizens don't have access

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to bank accounts, and nearly 7 million don't have access to a form of credit which meets

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their needs. Incomes which are too low and a lack of education to understand services

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which are sometimes too complicated, for many Europeans, this form of exclusion is often

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the start of bankruptcy. Mainstream providers, banks and others, don't often provide products

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and services in a way that suits the lifestyles of people on very low incomes, who need to

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keep a tight control of their money, often operating cash, pay loans and save very, very

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regularly. Although European countries are affected differently by financial exclusion,

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the solutions are also many and varied. In Poland, the accent is placed on financial

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education. In Great Britain, the government works with the main banks to support the credit

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unions, financial organisations which provide a service adapted to people on low incomes.

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In Belgium, a law guaranteeing access to basic banking services was passed in 2003.

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What's important today is to assess the scale of the situation, to determine what exactly

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is the level of financial exclusion in Europe, what solutions exist and which have been implemented.

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What's the situation with these solutions at the moment? At a European level, are financial

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institutions, the state and public authorities adopting the best solutions to suit their

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particular needs? For the European Commission, prevention and elimination of over-indebtedness

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and financial exclusion are considered to be a major element in the fight against social

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exclusion and poverty. The great challenge now is to define solutions adapted to each

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national situation to avoid our citizens falling into the financial abyss.