Post Office bill payments

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I cannot find a more suitable board for this question.

I am used to paying my bills at the Post Office, and post office website says they allow bill payments for utilities and council tax at all branches. 

If my bill was more than £1000 the PO guy explained they had a limit of £999.99 so they would do £900.00  plus whatever remained as a second transaction.  This never made any sense to me as the debit card limit is something like £50,000. 
I was then given 2 receipts and my bill was paid. 
I have looked at last year's receipt it says card payment to Post Office £900... it does not say cash withdrawal.

Today I go to the same local PO and they tell me for a bill of £1700 I have to do 4 cash withdrawals of £500, 500, 500 & 200 
I ask, I don't want to do cash withdrawals and pay with cash, I simply want to pay by debit card. They tell me new management, new rules and do not explain why.

On the back of the CT bill it say "pay at any post office or at any shop with payzone".
Post office website says they will scan the bill and take payment.


My question for anyone with PO knowledge... 
Why the £1000 limit with the old guy?

Is the new guy just plain wrong, they have not been trained to take payment by debit card... right?

I realised after I should have asked to speak to the post master but they were probably not working today.

Does the Post Master / Post Office take a cut of the payment of bills by debit card?

Would I have been charged for a cash withdrawal? 

Does the Post Master / Post Office make any profit from cash withdrawals?  

Does the Post Master / Post Office make any profit from bills paid by cash?

MattMattMattUK

xxxxxxxx said:

I cannot find a more suitable board for this question.

I am used to paying my bills at the Post Office, and post office website says they allow bill payments for utilities and council tax at all branches. 

If my bill was more than £1000 the PO guy explained they had a limit of £999.99 so they would do £900.00  plus whatever remained as a second transaction.  This never made any sense to me as the debit card limit is something like £50,000. 
I was then given 2 receipts and my bill was paid. 
I have looked at last year's receipt it says card payment to Post Office £900... it does not say cash withdrawal.

Today I go to the same local PO and they tell me for a bill of £1700 I have to do 4 cash withdrawals of £500, 500, 500 & 200 
I ask, I don't want to do cash withdrawals and pay with cash, I simply want to pay by debit card. They tell me new management, new rules and do not explain why.

On the back of the CT bill it say "pay at any post office or at any shop with payzone".
Post office website says they will scan the bill and take payment.


My question for anyone with PO knowledge... 
Why the £1000 limit with the old guy?

Is the new guy just plain wrong, they have not been trained to take payment by debit card... right?

I realised after I should have asked to speak to the post master but they were probably not working today.

Would it not make more sense to pay online, by bank transfer?

xxxxxxxx said:

Does the Post Master / Post Office take a cut of the payment of bills by debit card?  

They do not take "a cut", no.

xxxxxxxx said:

Would I have been charged for a cash withdrawal? 

Does the Post Master / Post Office make any profit from cash withdrawals?  

No to both, they cost them money.

xxxxxxxx said:

Does the Post Master / Post Office make any profit from bills paid by cash?

The Post Office gets around 1-2p per transaction for any PayZone (previously PayPoint) transaction, it varies slightly depending on the transaction type. If one factors in staff time they almost certainly loose money.

Alexland

Post office (like cash machine operators) get paid by the banks for providing a cash withdrawal service. They get paid by the utility company for providing a bill payment service. Therefore that's the most profitable combination to support your local branch.

It costs the post office a transaction fee if you pay by debit card as that's just part of a retailers cost of sale.

To reduce the risk of fraud some payment processors may implement lower limits than your bank. The branch may also have local informal limits.

You might be getting an inconsistent experience as its probably unusual to pay such high bills at the post office.

xxxxxxxx

I will speak to the Post master,  and depending on what they say and do I will look to make a complaint to Post Office,  they are refusing to take payment for a bill payment service which is supposed to be available at all post offices.  

I don't know, but I suspect this is a statutory requirement for Post Office.

PS have not had an inconsistent service for the last 15 or so years always paid this way all my bills at the same PO.

jameseonline

Bills?, so maybe banking & budgeting? https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/budgeting-bank-accounts

Kim_13

If the companies have never claimed not to have received your payment, does it really matter how the PO do it?

Most debit cards have cash withdrawal limits of £500, so that would explain £1,700 being split into 4 transactions. 

For something as large as £1,700 you might prefer to call the council on the bill payment line given and have them take the debit card payment. Or alternatively arrange to pay by monthly instalments so that each one is less than £500 to simplify things at the PO. For smaller amounts it’s possible the management haven’t directed staff to insist on a cash withdrawal rather than accepting a debit card payment directly.

I can understand not wanting to pay something as large as £1,700 by bank transfer. I wouldn’t without a test payment and to confirm receipt would presumably require being registered for e-Billing, which isn’t helpful when the HRC and others want to see ID. I have used the council’s online payment portal before, taking a photo with the reference on it so that I could copy and paste it rather than risk entering it wrongly.

MattMattMattUK

xxxxxxxx said:

I will speak to the Post master,  and depending on what they say and do I will look to make a complaint to Post Office,  they are refusing to take payment for a bill payment service which is supposed to be available at all post offices.  

I don't know, but I suspect this is a statutory requirement for Post Office.

PS have not had an inconsistent service for the last 15 or so years always paid this way all my bills at the same PO.

It is not a statutory obligation. 

xxxxxxxx

Post office bill payment — Digital Spy

It is safer to pay by debit card.