Mel Stride MP was in Okehampton today to promote the banking services available at local post offices. The visit was organised by Okehampton Resident Simon Thomas following the closure of the Okehampton branches of Barclays and NatWest in May this year. A long-standing supporter of local post offices, Mr Stride went door-to-door raising 14,000 signatures for his petition against the last Government’s post office closure programme to Downing Street before he became an MP in 2010.
Simon explained:
“28 of our high street banks have an agreement with the Post Office network which mean almost all personal customers and 19 in 20 business customers can access day-to-day banking services at any post office. With the closures of Barclays and NatWest in town, Okehampton residents can support our post office and save themselves a journey by using it for their banking instead of going elsewhere.”
Mel added:
“Simon is right that we need to shout about the wide range of banking services that the Post Office network offers because not enough people know about them. One reason for this is banks not doing enough to inform their customers about these services – an issue I have raised with the banking minister. People need to know they can still effectively bank locally while also support the sustainability of local post office branches.”
99% of UK personal banking customers and 95% of UK business banking customers can withdraw and deposit cash, pay in cheques, check their balance and get change at their local Post Office. A bill payment facility also means that customers can pay their household bills, top-up their gas or electricity, add credit to their mobile or charge their budget card at any Post Office. In 2017, the Post Office handled more than 120million vital everyday banking transactions over the counter for customers of the high street banks and their 2,600 free-to-use ATMs handled a further 150 million transactions.
