Banking at the Post Office - here's what you need to know

Zanderman

A_Nice_Englishman wrote: »

Let's say there are much easier ways of moving money around but many people like to send and receive cheques so Banks ( reluctantly ?) still facilitate this and Post Offices make some money out of it which helps keep them viable. Ultimately the cost is met by bank customers (including those who don't use the service).

No, let's not say that. Cheques are a convenient way to move money - the payer just needs the payees name. They work. There is a demand for them. Who pays for the service is irrelevant. The banks provide this service. And they intend to continue to do so.

Moving money direct from account to account might be 'easier' if the payer knows the account details of the payee (and which account they want the money paid to - they may well have several).

But the payer may not know this, they may not even want or need to know this (as it would mean they have to request, collect and hold information about the payee that's more than just their identity). So, in this latter context, cheques are far easier, minimising the data collection and data responsibilities of the payer. Yes they might cost more, but so what, they work for this type of payment. It's very simple.

You're obviously not going to agree though, so I'll leave it there!

its_all_over

A_Nice_Englishman wrote: »

Let's say there are much easier ways of moving money around but many people like to send and receive cheques so Banks ( reluctantly ?) still facilitate this and Post Offices make some money out of it which helps keep them viable. Ultimately the cost is met by bank customers (including those who don't use the service).

I don't really understand why you will continue with your strange views when the thread should have made it apparent to you that virtually everyone else is disagreeing with what you are saying.

A_Nice_Englishman

I like statistics, so have done some research and sums.

https://www.chequeandcredit.co.uk/information-hub/facts-and-figures/cheque-volumes-values

Average daily volume of cheques in 2017 1,163,000 (15% less than 2016)
About 250 banking days a year
Adult population (over 16) about 53m

So on average one can expect to receive about 5 or 6 and write about the same number of cheques in a year.

Actually that's an overestimate because many will be business-business transactions.

Does that tally with people's experience? As I said I generally receive one a year.


Let's be generous and round the total number of cheques up to 300m

http://www.theukcardsassociation.org.uk/wm_documents/UK%20Card%20Payments%202017%20-%20Summary%20FINAL.pdf

Tells us that there were 16 billion debit card transactions and 3.3 billion credit card transactions.

Altogether there were 54 card transactions for each cheque.

That's why I feel cheques are well on their way to becoming a niche product.

A_Nice_Englishman

its_all_over wrote: »

I don't really understand why you will continue with your strange views when the thread should have made it apparent to you that virtually everyone else is disagreeing with what you are saying.

Probably only people who use the Post Office for banking will be reading the thread so their views don't reflect the general population?

its_all_over

A_Nice_Englishman wrote: »

Probably only people who use the Post Office for banking will be reading the thread so their views don't reflect the general population?

I think you're wrong on that as well as I don't use the post office for banking, as I said earlier, I have to drive miles to my nearest bank branch, pay for parking and then walk up the pedestrianised street to the only branch in the area when I need to deposit cash.

I'd love to have full banking service via the post office though.

Do you use the post office for your banking?

A_Nice_Englishman

its_all_over wrote: »

I think you're wrong on that as well as I don't use the post office for banking, as I said earlier, I have to drive miles to my nearest bank branch, pay for parking and then walk up the pedestrianised street to the only branch in the area when I need to deposit cash.

I'd love to have full banking service via the post office though.

Do you use the post office for your banking?

No. II can't pay in my one cheque a year at the Post Office as I'd need a pre-printed paying in slip. I don't mind waiting until I'm somewhere with a bank branch though.

What banking would you like to do at the Post Office that you can't at the moment?

Edit: sorry, I see that you'd like to pay in cash

ValiantSon

A_Nice_Englishman wrote: »

Probably only people who use the Post Office for banking will be reading the thread so their views don't reflect the general population?

I don't regularly use the Post Office for banking. In the last year, I have done so twice. I have actually been into a branch around four times (having it coincide with an additional reason for going to a town). Most of my banking is done online. While not a regular user of the Post Office, I can see the benefit of having them.

A_Nice_Englishman

To summarise what we've found out this evening.

You can pay in cheques and (if you bank with the right bank) cash at a Post Office.

You can also check your balance and withdraw cash but you can also do that at an ATM as well as get cashback in many shops.

Cheques represent about 2% of payments. Some of those will be to individuals and only a fraction of those will be paid in at a Post Office without a bank branch nearby or where the payee will be going to somewhere with a bank branch anyway.

I therefore don't feel that Post Office banking is that important in the overall scheme of things but is useful for some people a couple of times a year and would be useful to others more often if they fulfilled their specific need.

Thanks for the discussion folks

its_all_over

A_Nice_Englishman wrote: »

To summarise what we've found out this evening.

You can pay in cheques and (if you bank with the right bank) cash at a Post Office.

You can also check your balance and withdraw cash but you can also do that at an ATM as well as get cashback in many shops.

Cheques represent about 2% of payments. Some of those will be to individuals and only a fraction of those will be paid in at a Post Office without a bank branch nearby or where the payee will be going to somewhere with a bank branch anyway.

I therefore don't feel that Post Office banking is that important in the overall scheme of things but is useful for some people a couple of times a year and would be useful to others more often if they fulfilled their specific need.

Thanks for the discussion folks

I see you've still completely misrepresented what people have said in a very biased manner. That isn't what most of the people had said and your conclusions are erroneous.

A_Nice_Englishman

its_all_over wrote: »

I see you've still completely misrepresented what people have said in a very biased manner. That isn't what most of the people had said and your conclusions are erroneous.

I've read through the thread again and nobody has said they use Post Office banking services frequently or that they are an essential lifeline for them. I thought people would, actually.

If you dispute my figures please say why and give your alternatives.

What conclusions do you draw from the evidence in the thread?