Japan should open post offices to businesses and local government

Japan’s network of post offices should be open to private businesses and local governments, an advisory panel to the prime minister on postal system reform said Monday. “The big theme is how to improve and utilize the post office network effectively,” Chairman Naoki Tanaka told a news conference. Private financial institutions could use the network to market their products, while local governments might use the post offices as service centers in remote areas, he said. Post offices currently have ATM alliances with some financial institutions, enabling their depositors to use ATMs at post offices. Tanaka also said that “neither the role nor number of post offices should be fixed,” stressing the need for measures to make the network more efficient, including cutting the number of offices.
Asia Pulse