Government presses ahead with Post Office Bank

by Gill Montia

Story link: Government presses ahead with Post Office Bank

The Government has outlined its plans for the Post Office Bank, already designated “the people’s bank”, in a move that will allow the Post Office to offer new financial products.

The proposals include: current accounts that can be accessed from any Post Office branch; children’s savings accounts; business accounts; mortgages and weekly budgeting accounts.

Ministers are prepared to back their vision with an investment of up to £1.7 billion by 2011 and would like to see the new Bank develop close links with the UK’s credit unions.

Speaking to the BBC, Lord Mandelson said: “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.”

The Post Office currently has 11,500 branches across the UK which, according to Business Secretary, is more than all the UK’s High Street banks combined.

A public consultation on the proposals is being conducted over the next 12 weeks, details of which are in all Post Office branches.

Meanwhile, Tesco, which has 2,200 UK stores, continues to pursue its ambitions in the UK retail banking sector, having recently appointed Fiserv to provide the platform for its proposed current account offering and more.