Post offices to get cash machines
Post offices struggling for survival were given a welcome boost today as a high street bank pledged to install cash machines at 100 sites.
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) said 100 of the 300 free-to-use cash machines it wants to install in the UK’s poorest communities will go in post offices.
It came just days after Prime Minister Tony Blair was told of the crisis facing the Post Office network, with closures expected across the country.
National Federation of SubPostmasters general secretary Colin Baker welcomed the move by RBS.
“We are delighted to be able to help potentially several hundred members of the National Federation of SubPostmasters to benefit from the installation of a free, non-fee charging cash machine in their post offices,” he said.
“We know that customers in turn appreciate easy and no-charge access to their cash.
“The federation is committed to maintaining a strong and thriving network on behalf of our members and this initiative will help achieve that commitment.” The possible closure of post offices has become a burning issue in both rural communities and inner cities where customers struggle to access services.
Post offices have lost much-needed income as they are stripped of key services such as television licences and car tax which are now available online.
Mr Baker said some postmasters were even forced to use their savings to keep post offices open.
The crisis coincides with calls for more free-to-use cash machines in deprived areas where people with limited means struggle to access much-needed funds.
RBS, which owns NatWest, invited MPs and communities to nominate where its 300 new machines should go and today said it had linked up with the National Federation of SubPostmasters to install 100 in post offices.
The bank said it will install and maintain the cash machines free of charge.
Gordon Pell, chief executive of retail markets at RBS, said: “Lack of free access to cash can badly affect the most vulnerable people in society.
“Having a free-to-use cash machine close by can make a real difference to the elderly, disabled and those living on a very low income.
“The sub-post office network covers many of the UK’s most deprived communities, and we hope our offer to install free-to-use machines in these areas will bring benefits to both local residents and subpostmasters’ businesses.” Mr Blair last week received a 4m-signature petition calling for an end to the closure crisis in the Post Office network, as more than 1,000 subpostmasters descended on Westminster to make their case. The National Federation of SubPostmasters, organiser of what was claimed to be the largest petition ever presented to a Prime Minister, urged Ministers to end closures in rural areas and suburbs and stop post offices being stripped of key services.
Yorkshire subpostmasters attending the mass lobby of MPs warned that the entire network was now in the “last chance saloon” and likely to be gone in five years’ time unless there was a serious change of heart by the Government. Federation leaders said that most of the 1,400 sub-post offices in the Yorkshire and North-East region were at risk.
