Creation of a consumer protection agency at the Federal Reserve to prevent predatory lending was pressed for by President Barack Obama on Saturday.

No mention was made of Sunday's crucial vote in the House on healthcare reform, but the president's weekly Internet and radio address focused on the need for financial reform.

Instead, the president focused on the need for a consumer protection agency that would advocate for "ordinary Americans and help enforce rules to protect them."

The "army of lobbyists" working against his administration's financial reform plans was criticized by Obama and he vowed to prevent loopholes for payday lenders, auto finance companies and credit card firms.

The nation needs common sense rules that would let financial markets "function fairly and freely" while reining in predatory practices that hurt consumers, Obama further said.

He said, "That's the central lesson of this (financial) crisis. And we fail to heed that lesson at our peril." (With Inputs from Agencies)