The Business
Secretary Lord Mandelson today opened a public consultation on new
financial products and services that could be offered by the Post Office.
Lord Mandelson said:
“The Post Office is a great British institution that has been
part of our economic and social fabric for well over three hundred
years.
“Growing financial services at the Post Office will help secure
the future of the network and give people access to a full range
of banking products at an institution they trust and value.
“At a time when some banks and financial services companies are
seeking to reduce face to face contact with customers, the Post
Office stands out. It offers a trusted brand, and has more
branches than the high street banks combined. It is ideally placed
to bring banking services back to the heart of people’s communities.”
The consultation outlines a number of financial services that the
Post Office could offer, including:
Post Office Current Account – its own current account accessible
from any of the over 11,500 branches across the country.Post
Office Children’s Savings Account – an account designed to
encourage children to save through visits to their local Post
Office. Post Office Business Bank Accounts – currently the Post
Office offers access to business accounts from a few High Street
banks. It could offer increased access to business accounts from
other providers, as well as its own business account. A weekly
budgeting account – many low income households are unable to take
advantage of the savings that can be made by paying for services
by direct debit. One way to tackle this problem is by offering a
simple account that could ring-fence a proportion of income each
week, and then pay out bills by direct debit on a monthly or
quarterly basis.A closer link between the Post Office and credit
unions – it can be difficult to access credit union accounts when
people are not in their local area. The local nature of the Post
Office makes it ideally placed to allow credit union savers to
access their accounts across the country.Working to ensure all
banks’ current accounts can be accessed at a Post Office –
currently 60% of current accounts (around 25m accounts) can be
accessed at Post Office branches. The Government wants more banks
to allow their current accounts to be accessible at the Post
Office.
The Government is also keen for the Post Office to be a more
significant player in the mortgage market.
Lord Mandelson said:
“I would like to see the Post Office at the forefront of the
provision of good value mortgages across the UK. The Post Office
has rapidly grown sales of its award-winning mortgages and is
today announcing improved rates across its mortgages range.
“Our consultation outlines exciting proposals, but I want people
to have their say. This is an opportunity for local communities to
tell us what they want and need from their Post Office.
Information about the consultation will be available in all of the
network’s 11,500 branches.”
The Post Office is one of the UK’s fastest growing financial
services providers, and the country’s number one foreign currency
provider. This consultation is the next step towards turning the
Post Office into a leading player in financial services, offering
banking products across its network of over 11,500 branches.
The consultation reinforces the Government’s commitment to a
secure and sustainable future for the Post Office, following the
decision in November 2008 to award it a new contract for the Post
Office Card Account, and the investment of up to £1.7bn to 2011.
Notes to Editors
On 29 September the Prime Minister announced that he wanted a
much bigger role for Post Office in providing financial services,
to increase the accessibility of reliable financial products for
consumers and small businesses. The Prime Minister said: “I want
the Post Office to play a much bigger role, bringing banking
services back to the heart of people’s communities.”The Government
has committed up to £1.7bn of funding to the Post Office,
including £150m a year to help support a network of around 11,500
branches to 2011. It will continue to support the non-commercial
network beyond this date.With over 11,500 branches nationwide, the
Post Office is the largest retail and financial services chain in
the UK. Its network is larger than all of the banks in the UK
combined.Over 99 per cent of the UK population lives within three
miles of a Post Office branch and over 23 million customers visit
every week.The Post Office already offers a range of financial
services, including savings, insurance, lending, and foreign
currency productsThe consultation sets out the Government’s vision
for Post Office Banking and proposes new products which could be
delivered through the Post Office. It also describes the existing
range of financial products available at Post Offices. The
consultation will be available from
www.bis.gov.uk/postofficebanking. Hard copies (including
alternative formats) are available on request. Leaflets giving an
overview of the consultation and information about how to respond
will be available in all Post Offices.
Contacts:
BIS Press Office
NDS.BIS@coi.gsi.gov.uk
Joe Upton
Phone: 020 7215 5959
Joe.Upton@bis.gsi.gov.uk