Fears for Post Office services hit by losses of Card Account footfall

6.16.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 16th Oct 2006

Jo carried out a factfinding mission on Post Offices in East Dunbartonshire earlier this year

The withdrawal of the Post Office Card Account will have a serious knock-on effect on other Post Office services, according to Jo Swinson.

Speaking in a debate in Parliament today, Jo highlighted the effect of losses in customer footfall generated by Post Office Card Account users.

Commenting after the debate, Jo said:

"From speaking to sub-postmasters across East Dunbartonshire, I know how important the Post Office Card Account is to their businesses - some estimate that as much as 40% of their footfall is generated by benefits and POCA.

"The axing of POCA will hit local post offices hard in itself, but its effects will also be felt in the loss of business to other services that Card Account customers use.

"The Government continues to strip services away from the Post Office, while claiming it wants to protect the network. Their stated policy goals are completely undermined by their record of action."

The current contract for Post Office Card Accounts (POCA) runs out in 2010. POCA has been far more popular than expected, with 4.5 million users, and generates £1bn of revenue for the Post Office. The Government has so far made no commitment over the renewal of the POCA contract after 2010, while it is estimated that of the 1,500 Post Offices in Scotland, two-thirds will not be viable after the Card Account scheme expires.

Related Links:

Read Jo's contribution to the debate in Parliament

Save our Post Offices - Jo Swinson