DWP confirms that Post Office Card Account contract to end in November 2021

Published by Disability Nottinghamshire on

DWP confirms that Post Office Card Account contract to end in November 2021

However, Minister tells parliament that DWP will implement an alternative payment service for claimants who are unable to open a mainstream account by that date

The DWP has confirmed that its contract with the Post Office for the provision of Post Office Card Accounts will end in November 2021. Responding yesterday to a written question in parliament about the effect on elderly people in rural areas of the discontinuation of the Post Office card system, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Pensions and Financial Inclusion Guy Opperman said “The government’s contract for the Post Office card account comes to an end on 30 November 2021. For those claimants and pensioners who are unable to open a mainstream account ahead of this date, the DWP will implement an alternative payment service that allows users to obtain cash payments in their local area (including suburban and rural locations) before the end of the contract. When commissioning this alternative payment service, it will be our priority to ensure that elderly vulnerable people are protected and catered for. Our communications with Post Office card account users will highlight that 99 per cent of a banks’ personal customers, are able to withdraw cash, deposit cash and cheques, and make balance enquiries at a Post Office counter via its network of 11,600 branches. Therefore, those receiving benefit and pension payments into a bank account can continue to collect their money from the Post Office so there should be minimal effect on elderly people in rural areas. We have already introduced a phased conversion process ahead of 2021 and we will be writing to all Post Office card account users to ensure they are provided with an alternative payment service.”

 

Please note that Disability Nottinghamshire is not involved in any way with this process and we have sourced the information in this article from Rightsnet.

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