Go-ahead for £180m 'Post Office Bank'
Lord Mandleson said the proposals amounted to a Post Office Bank
A £180 million "major expansion" of the Post Office will see the network offer many of the same services as a high street bank, business secretary Lord Mandleson has announced.
Measures will include a weekly budgeting account to help low-income families manage and save their money, a children's savings account, a Post Office current account and other business services yet to be announced, all of which will be accessible from any branch in the country.
It is also hoped that negotiations with RBS and Santander will allow customers to access their accounts from post offices.
"Since the global banking crisis we have set about reinventing the financial services industry piece by piece, building a system that is fairer, trusted and more responsible," Lord Mandleson said.
"Today is the next step in that process. The Post Office is a well-loved community institution and this move will bring more banking services back to the heart of those communities."
A coalition of groups including the Communication Workers Union, Federation of Small Businesses and National Pensioners Convention has long supported and pressed for the move.
The money comes on top of £1.7 billion currently being invested in 11,500 branches to make them more sustainable.
Comments
I think it'll take some time before I trust the Post Office enough for me to bank with them. I'll stay with Smile online banking for now!
ho hum, think they could be doing more to sort out the mess that has come from closing many of the post offices. is there a post office in the UK where you don't actually have to queue for less than 15 minutes?!