Banks should be more transparent about disclosing details of their lending in socially deprived areas to help tackle financial exclusion following the US model, says a report.

A study by the New Economics Foundation, an independent think-tank, and the US-based Woodstock Institute gives the first detailed comparison between the UK and the US. In the US, banks have disclosed details of their lending and investing in poor areas since the mid-1970s. The NEF believes greater bank disclosure in the UK could prompt a real shift in the way banks act and invest in the most disadvantaged areas.