France’s La Poste aims to launch expanded retail banking ops in Jan 2006
France’s state-owned postal operator La Poste aims to launch an extended range of retail banking products from January 2006, following the government’s approval of a law that allows La Poste to fully compete with the country’s other retail banks.
‘The launch date we are counting on today is Jan 1, 2006,’ said Patrick Werner, assistant managing director and head of financial services at La Poste, at a press conference.
Last week, Parliament adopted a law that allows La Poste to begin offering home and consumer credit loans alongside its current and savings account operations.
In exchange, La Poste gave up part of its monopoly on small mail distribution, which now only applies to mail below 50 grammes or costing 2.5 times the basic stamp price. Previously, La Poste had a monopoly on mail below 100 grammes.
