French Post Office prepares public for a change of status

Martin Vial, chairman of the French post office (La Poste), is currently preparing both the organisation’s employees and the general public for the change of status which La Poste will undergo as the deregulation of the European postal sector continues. Paradoxically, the biggest change is expected to take place in the field of financial services, which currently contribute around 20 per cent of La Poste’s earnings and employ approximately 60,000 of its 300,000 staff.

Mr Vial hopes to regroup all of La Poste’s financial services, including savings accounts and life-insurance policies, into an ad hoc wholly-owned subsidiary with bank status. He claims that this new entity – effectively a postal bank – will enable La Poste to provide a complete range of financial services, particularly consumer credit, on an equal footing with France’s banks.