The activities of the banks are helping contribute to consumer debt, according to Citizens Advice.

Director of public policy Teresa Perchard makes the assertion in response to the news that the Banking Code is to be reviewed to ensure financial institutions are treating their customers fairly.

She notes a distinction between the service provided by banks when dealing directly with their customers and that which takes place without consumers being aware of it.

As a result, Britons may find their monetary situation to be tighter than expected, with a debt consolidation loan one possible means of tackling an affordability crisis.

Ms Perchard calls on the banks "to end the practices of unsolicited increases in credit limits and unsolicited issuing of credit card cheques".

"Such practices ... may have contributed to a culture of consumers sleepwalking into higher levels of debt," she explains.

Citizens Advice dealt with 1.7 million debt problems in the 2006-07 year of its operations.

For many consumers seeking help with their finances, a debt consolidation loan could prove the ideal solution.ADNFCR-1287-ID-18370319-ADNFCR

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