It is found among people of all ages and classes and usually occurs after people experience some kind of financial upset, Dr Burchell added.

BBC: One in five 'suffers banking phobia'

"Financialphobes can be intelligent people who are high achievers in most areas of their lives - they are not irresponsible, feckless or spendthrift, " said Dr Brendan Burchell, of Cambridge University's faculty of social and political sciences.

BBC: One in five 'suffers banking phobia'