bank accounts DWP stops paying benefits and state pension into Post Office Accounts

bullee

DWP stops paying benefits and state pension into Post Office Accounts
is there a bank account for the elderly simple and easy to use
? my 81 year old mother  has been using  post office  for years but now they are stopping it in 2021.  she found the post office  easy to use  but now worried how to move to a bank and new cards etc 

any ideas 

born_again

Depends on just what she wants to do.
Does she have any banks accounts already, or is she just using cash from the post office all the time? How does she pay her utility bills etc?

If she still wants to use cash, then it would have to be a high street bank that she can get to. 

colsten

With most banks, she can still do her transactions at the Post Office. She just needs a new bank account with a 'proper' bank, and yes, she will get a new card. Can she do online banking / can you do it on her behalf (have you got POA?), or does she need a physical branch office? Note it will be difficult / impossible to arrange appointments in banks for account applications, and it doesn't seem a good idea, anyway, for a lady in  her 80s to venture out atm.

jonesMUFCforever

There is a good chance that if your mother has lived at her current address for a long time and is on the electoral roll, that a bank account application would be approved by electronic verification.
Could you help with an application?

dcs34

Keep the Post Office account as her main account (one she is most familiar with) and setup a new account (basic) for benefits/pension to get paid into. Then she/you setup a regular or manual transfer to move the income in to the Post Office account. Gives her an extra option in case something goes wrong with the Post Office account, and if she loses the Post Office card it won't disrupt her benefits/pension payments.

In terms of 'basic' accounts I have found NatWest and RBS to be relatively straightforward. All else being equal perhaps pick the one that has the nearest branch to her?

colsten

The PO have provided guidance on what to do. It sounds easy enough as there are no SOs or DDs to worry about with the PO card account.

colsten

If you are happy with your bank, may be an account with them for your mum would suit.

Otherwise I could recommend Halifax, who I find easy & efficient communicators. Their online application is very easy to go through, and hopefully your mum is on the electoral register and has the required ID. 

Halifax also allow third party access without a POA although I am not sure whether this can be set up whilst we have various lockdowns, as setting this up almost certainly requires a visit to a Halifax Branch.

[Deleted User]

Choose a Bank or Building Society that has Post Office access and some local branches ideally. This gives her multiple options for Face to Face service.

Setting up a POA might be useful too.