Consumers blame banks for credit crunch

A new study has suggested that the public blame banks and building societies for the current credit crunch.

Research carried out by Populus for the Times newspaper indicated that more than 80 per cent of consumers believe most or all banks and building societies created the conditions for the current financial difficulties.

Interestingly, both Barclays and Lloyds TSB were singled out by consumers as being most responsible for the current credit crunch.

What''s more, the research for the Times showed that the percentage of people with bank accounts has dropped by two per cent in the last year, as consumer lose faith in the institutions.

Despite blaming lenders for the country''s financial problems, only 11 per cent of customers said they would like their credit card provider to reduce their spending limit in a bid to help them get their debt under control.

Yesterday (July 30th), Lloyds TSB revealed that its statutory profit before tax decreased by 70 per cent in the first half of the year.

Sir Victor Blank, chairman of the lender, commented: "The first half of 2008 has been a period of considerable turbulence for the financial services sector and this has been compounded by the marked slowdown in the UK economy as a whole."