Post Office Card Account

murtily

Hi

I hope someone can help me on my query. Do you know what time benefit funds be available in the post office card account. Some banks clear funds at midnight, or is it different with the special post office card account for benefits.

Thanks, any help will be much appreciated.

dzug1

I fear the only way to find out is to go to a Post Office that has a Post Office ATM outside after midnight and try it. Or a 24 hour Post Office - if there are any these days

murtily

so is thew post office card account classed as a bank. So the account can accept direct payments.

EarthBoy

I believe it can only accept benefit payments and no other sort of credits.

JuicyJesus

EarthBoy wrote: »

I believe it can only accept benefit payments and no other sort of credits.

This is correct.

The card account is for people who receive government benefits but do not have or want a bank account.

Which strikes me as odd, since it basically IS a bank account, just a near useless one.

dzug1

JuicyJesus wrote: »

This is correct.

The card account is for people who receive government benefits but do not have or want a bank account.

Which strikes me as odd, since it basically IS a bank account, just a near useless one.

Well it may have been implemented as a bank account, but that wasn't its intention - which was to provide a replacement for pension books.

JuicyJesus

dzug1 wrote: »

Well it may have been implemented as a bank account, but that wasn't its intention - which was to provide a replacement for pension books.

I can't think of a cheaper or easier way to implement such a thing, to be honest. Pretty much anything else I can think of would mean the DWP would have to change their own processes; meanwhile, with the card accounts, they can just include them all as part of their normal BACS run. Same end result, costs everyone involved less money.

Short of a record of fraud or lack of ID not allowing access to mainstream banking facilities however, I can't think of a single decent reason why anyone would want one.

Gromitt

I know someone who has both. I always find it amusing when they go and wait in the queue to collect their pension with their card, and then catch the bus to the bank to deposit it!

pmduk

Getting the elderly to change their habits is a nightmare. I've a friend who goes to the bank, to withdraw his rent and then walks to the corner shop to pay it over the counter in cash, (via paypoint). No way have I been able to persuade him to pay by any other method. He has a debit card but has never used it to pay in a shop.

Hominu

pmduk wrote: »

Getting the elderly to change their habits is a nightmare. I've a friend who goes to the bank, to withdraw his rent and then walks to the corner shop to pay it over the counter in cash, (via paypoint). No way have I been able to persuade him to pay by any other method. He has a debit card but has never used it to pay in a shop.

I wonder if its the same as my old man. Refusing to use his card in a store as "I'm not allowing anyone access to my bank account", and would rather pay a payment processing fee than use direct debit for the same reason. He pays every bill by waiting for it to come through the post, then* goes inside the bank to request the money and then (!) goes to the post office to pay it!

* - I missed out the part where he moans about the cost of the bill for about 30 odd minutes after reading it. Of course he does nothing about it. I've tried to get him to switch, but he just says "No point, its the same electric/gas down the same piece of wire/pipe, so they'll all charge the same.".

pmduk

Exactly the same!