Extract of the Introduction

There are many reasons why people in Europe do not use financial services. Exclusion can be seen as the experience of those who are willing to access and use those services but who for various reasons are unable to do so. Exclusion is caused in part by legal/regulatory entry barriers, in part by legitimate responsible practices and in part by market failures that result in a lack of guaranteed access and use of appropriate products by every potential client. The issues of regulatory barriers and market
failures can be singled out as the two areas to improve for the sake of an inclusive European society. This is of particular importance as exclusion, which in many cases is linked to vulnerable groups or people, equates to discrimination.