What exclusion is all about Financial exclusion doesn't just happen. Of course, there are some people who have never benefitted from financial services, but as this report makes plain many have used them at some point. If we can learn why a product ceased to be used there has to be a better chance of combatting exclusion. And of course we have all heard it said that exclusion is a choice on the part of the excluded. Often the reality is that the right combination of quantity, quality and price is just not available.
Exclusion can come about through what the economists call 'bundling'.
The rest of us might see it as selling us something we want along with something else we are at best not sure about. It is comparable to only selling large pack sizes of certain grocery products or only offering cut prices in 6 for the price of 5 offers that those on limited incomes are unable to take up. Some are excluded by a lack of information about what is available. Most of us complain about too much junk mail but without any you may have only a very dim notion of the products available or their prices. That brings me on to the question of unmet needs.