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Originate you wish money as of late? Whenever you happen to search the recommendation of with the Post Place of business now, you are inclined to be requested that ask by the cashier earlier than you walk away, no matter what assignment you are mission – from renewing a passport, to sending a parcel.

Many Post Place of business prospects can also honest no longer realise it, however the aged establishment is successfully on its manner to being the UK’s preferrred banking network – with bigger than 11,500 branches.

In fact, the aged establishment has moved to this point from its mature roots in sending letters and parcels that most of its profits now comes from monetary services and products.

This fact is not any longer lost on our readers, who own emailed to ask why their local Post Place of business workers own requested every buyer within the event that they favor money, no matter the reason they visited the branch within the most major plight.

So why is the Post Place of business so spacious on banking, and what does this all mean for prospects and the Post Place of business itself?

Flip the clocks serve 30 years, and Post Place of business banking wasn’t even a speck on the horizon.

Folks did their banking in bodily bank or building society branches, or over the telephone – as online banking hadn’t been invented both.

Then came a wave of high facet road bank branch closures. In the tedious Eighties there had been almost 15,000 bodily bank branches within the UK.

That has fallen to round 6,300 – with 6,000 closing within the previous nine years.

Enter the Post Place of business, which began providing banking services and products in its branches in 2017.

Right this moment, the Post Place of business says it has ‘extra branches than the entire banks and building societies mixed’.

The Post Place of business is paid to assemble banking services and products by the high facet road banks themselves, under an settlement known as the Banking Framework, which is now in its third model and runs till the tip of 2025.

The Post Place of business is rapid to present that its banking services and products provide a social lawful, as high facet road banks are closing so many branches.

Earlier this month, Post Place of business banking director Ross Borkett said: ‘Thousands and thousands of individuals continue to reach serve to our branches a week as they are steadily the most attention-grabbing plight where individuals can kind their everyday banking at a time that is convenient for them.

‘Postmasters preserve their branches open long hours and prospects welcome being in a discipline to soundly kind their banking whilst being served by a pleasant and an authority Postmaster.’

A Post Place of business spokesman instructed us: ‘Our partnership with 30 banks and building societies ensures that no-one who depends on money is left at the serve of, made that you would maybe additionally factor in by our Postmasters in almost every neighborhood of the country.

‘That is the entire extra major following the introduction of the Access to Cash guidelines and additional highlights the serious operate Postmasters play as of late, and in the end, in supporting prospects with accessing their money.’

There’s not a denying that Post Place of business banking does beget a extremely major social operate.

Myron Jobson, senior non-public finance analyst at Interactive Investor, says: ‘The Post Place of business has turn into a cornerstone of neighborhood banking within the UK, stepping in to assemble serious services and products where high facet road banks own retreated.

‘Boasting over 11,500 branches, the Post Place of business’s caters to individuals who might maybe in some other case fight to assemble admission to banking services and products, which might maybe consist of the aged, the disabled, and individuals without internet assemble admission to who cannot interact with digital banking choices.

‘That is also especially major in rural and some distance off areas where banking choices are an increasing selection of scarce.’

But the Post Place of business is not any longer staunch providing banking services and products out of a sense of social responsibility – or no longer it is some distance a money-spinner for them.

The Banking Framework sees banks pay the Post Place of business for every banking transaction a buyer makes in a single amongst its branches, though precisely how important they pay is a tightly-guarded secret.

But the Post Place of business’s most up-to-date accounts present that it made revenues of £263million from banking in 2023, up from £230million in 2022.

Post Place of business high executives are also paid bonuses reckoning on, amongst other things, the amount of banking income the firm makes.

Hitting targets for Post Place of business banking income is 10 per cent of the 2022/23 non everlasting incentive plan bonus plan the Post Place of business runs for its chief executive, Cut Read, and chief monetary officer, Alisdair Cameron.

Particular person Postmasters, who breeze Post Offices, are also paid per banking transaction, but are free to advertise this carrier or no longer as they are saying match.

Closing twelve months the Post Place of business elevated banking remuneration to Postmasters by 20 per cent, on high of doubling the cost in August 2022.

The Post Place of business has three foremost trade areas:

• Mail, retail and authorities services and products (sending letters and parcels, selling goods similar to envelopes and stationery and helping individuals assemble admission to benefits and other authorities needs)
• Banking, funds and transactional services and products (similar to Post Place of business banking and providing ATMs)
• Monetary services and products, identification services and products and insurance protection (similar to selling insurance protection and savings and providing passports and using licences)

Banking and monetary services and products are the two foremost affirm areas for the Post Place of business, in response to its most up-to-date monetary outcomes.

The Post Place of business made £310million from mail, retail and authorities services and products in 2023 – down £46million on the twelve months earlier than, partly because of individuals sending fewer letters.

But it made £379million from banking and funds (up £50million) and £126million from monetary services and products (an expand of £44million).

Handiest 41 per cent of the Post Place of business’s 2023 income came from mail and other ‘mature’ areas – with 57 per cent coming from banking and monetary services and products.

In other phrases, the Post Place of business has to preserve sending letters and parcels, but that’s no longer where the money is.

It’s no surprise then that the Post Place of business’s most most up-to-date monetary accounts single out banking as a spacious affirm condo for the extinct establishment.

Post Place of business chair Henry Staunton said within the firm’s 2022/23 annual legend: ‘There are also reasons to be optimistic.

‘We are identifying new alternatives, particularly in mails, banking and digital identification and, offered we’re as committed to our future as we’re to resolving our previous, I firmly factor in that the trade can unbiased in the direction of a brighter future.’

The most major field with Post Place of business banking is that it most attention-grabbing gives a piece of the services and products prospects can assemble in a high facet road bank.

Customers can most attention-grabbing kind four things when banking at a Post Place of business: pay in money, withdraw it, pay in cheques and check their steadiness.

Even that tiny menu of choices is additional restricted depending for your bank.

As an illustration, while Virgin Cash prospects can kind all four of the choices, Nationwide prospects can most attention-grabbing kind two – withdraw money and check their steadiness, even supposing the building society has been vocal on keeping its branches open.

For the rest, similar to opening a up to date chronicle or finding out a field, prospects both must whisk to one amongst the declining desire of bodily bank branches or depend on the telephone or internet.

But even that can also honest swap in the end.

Post Place of business chief executive Cut Read has hammered dwelling the point that Post Place of business banking is most attention-grabbing going to develop.

Read said: ‘Following a three-twelve months-plus campaign which we’re proud to own led from the entrance, authorities has now legislated to present protection to free-to-spend money services and products for oldsters and trade across the country.

‘That train can also honest aloof cement the plight of our branches as one amongst the major channels for accessing money services and products within the long term, particularly as we leer forward to the negotiation of Banking Framework 4 because of reach serve into raise out in January 2026.’

The Post Place of business can also honest even switch into providing extra loans in its branches.

Mr Staunton said: ‘The Post Place of business’s new monetary services and products partnership with the Monetary institution [of Ireland] is centered on savings but can even, for the most major time, also enable the Post Place of business to strike new offers in the end with other monetary suppliers, particularly with regards to non-public loans.’