Post Office Card Account

(asked on 6th September 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many benefit claimants currently hold Post Office Card Accounts; what assessment her Department has made of the impact on claimants of ending their use for benefit and pension payments from November 2021; and what steps her Department is taking to help claimants set up alternative accounts.


Answered by
Guy Opperman Portrait
Guy Opperman
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This question was answered on 9th September 2021

In 2015 there was circa 2.3m active Post Office Card Accounts (POca) users, which has now reduced to less than 350k.

The Department has a dedicated team, the Financial Inclusion Customer Contact Centre, to support all Post Office Card Account customers to transition to standard accounts. A new Payment Exception Service exists for customers who are unable to access a standard account to receive their payments.

The Department is actively contacting Post Office Card Account customers to provide support and advice on the future payment methods available.

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