Consumer Focus, the new independent champion for consumers, welcomed today the Business and Enterprise Select Committee report on the Post Office Card Account (POCA). The report stresses that the decision by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on the future of POCA must meet the basic financial needs of POCA holders and ensure their needs come first.
Richard Bates, spokesperson for Consumer Focus said: “As the Committee rightly notes, the voice of over four million people who rely on POCA services has been absent from the entire process.”
The DWP should have worked with POCA holders to establish the service they need and the environment they trust for managing their money. Consumer Focus thinks the DWP strategy has focused on narrowly defined savings. Crucially, the DWP has ignored potentially disastrous consequences to communities whose vital post office services will be under threat if Post Office Limited loses the POCA account.
Richard Bates added: “As the committee points out, if this contract is lost, chaotic branch closures could hit rural and deprived communities the hardest.”
Consumer Focus calls on government to preserve access to vital post office services if Post Office Limited loses the account.
Richard Bates concluded: “The decision presents a unique opportunity to serve POCA holders better by offering them the option to deposit money, pay bills and make small savings. Even at this eleventh hour, the DWP could still make the right decision and put the interests of consumers first.”
Ends
Media enquiries to: Consumer Focus 020 7799 8006
Notes to Editors
Over 4m people have their pensions and benefits paid into a Post Office card account.
12,500 Post Office card accounts are opened every month.
Document Download: The future of the Post Office Card Account Size: [413 KB] File Type: [.pdf]
