Tag: Royal Mail

Post Office (UK) cuts mortgage rate

Posted by | Nov 18, 2007 | |

The Post Office announced it has cut its three year fixed rate mortgage to 5.64 per cent – making it the best deal of its kind currently available*.

The mortgage carries a fixed arrangement fee of just GBP 399 and can be taken out on up to 95 per cent of a home’s value, giving Post Office customers a market leading deal. In support of the product’s transparency and great value it has been awarded a rare 5* rating from Moneyfacts.

Three year fixed buy-to-let and self-certification mortgages are also currently available at trial branches.

The mortgage trial, launched in September 2007, follows a succession of well-received financial product launches by the Post Office which is now the fastest growing financial services provider in the UK. It has already attracted more than one million customers with its easy to understand and good value products.

A formal evaluation will take place at the end of the mortgage trial, which will inform how the Post Office proceeds with its offering.

Post Office Mortgages are provided in conjunction with Bristol and West, the Bank of Ireland’s lending arm. As a responsible lender, the Post Office applies strict lending criteria and enforces appropriate checks before an offer is made.

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Post Office (UK) named 2007 favourite for foreign exchange and travel insurance

Posted by | Nov 18, 2007 | |

The Post Office has been named Britain’s Favourite Foreign Exchange Company at this year’s British Travel Awards after securing a quarter of all votes in this category.

The Post Office was also voted Favourite Travel Insurance Company for the second year running.

Voted for by over 100,000 consumers and industry professionals, the British Travel Awards are the largest of its kind in the UK.

The Post Office is the largest bureau de change provider in the UK and customers can buy euros over the counter at over 7,000 “on demand” branches plus a selection of other currencies at 2,400 branches. All 14,000 Post Offices offer a next-day currency collection service. The Post Office is the UK’s largest independent provider of travel insurance.

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Business Post strikes new blow to Royal Mail with demand for split

Posted by | Nov 15, 2007 | |

One of Royal Mail’s rivals is to petition the Government to break up the state-owned postal group, in an escalation of pressure for change from its competitors.

Business Post made the call as sales at its mail division, which competes with Royal Mail, rose 59 per cent. The company argues that last month’s Royal Mail strikes have made more people aware that there is a competitive postal market.

Guy Buswell, Business Post’s chief executive, is to make a formal request to the Department for Business for Royal Mail’s network to be separated from its sales operation in January. By then it intends to produce a detailed paper with outside consultants.

Mr Buswell said: “The Government must be wondering what to do with Royal Mail. If the network were separated from sales, it would end the questions of what is Royal Mail’s future. We want to help start the debate.”

The call for change will come as the term of Allan Leighton as chairman draws to a close. The Government could use the change to make substantial changes. Rivals want the business to be split so that there is no conflict of interest between Royal Mail’s sales operation – their competitor – and its network, which they have to use for the final mile of the delivery of post.

The postal regulator is considering the implications but has no powers to order a split. Royal Mail may offer to present separate sets of accounts, but that is unlikely to satisfy its rivals.

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Post Office (UK) to launch new Christmas Club

Posted by | Nov 15, 2007 | |

The Post Office today announced plans to launch a new Christmas Club offering customers a secure and convenient way to save for Christmas 2008, with additional membership rewards that will increase their spending power.

The Post Office Christmas Club will fill a gap identified by HM Treasury’s Review of Christmas Saving Schemes by Brian Pomeroy, Chairman of the Financial Inclusion Taskforce, in March this year carried out in the wake of the Farepak collapse.

All funds deposited in the Post Office Christmas Club will be governed by strict E-money regulations and held in a protected account under the control of Bank of Ireland. The funds will only be accessible to Club members.

The scheme will be available at all Post Office branches from January 2008. Customers will be issued with a Christmas Club card which they can use to make deposits over the counter. The minimum single deposit will be GBP 5, and the maximum individual payment GBP 500, up to a total of GBP 1,000 savings per card per annum.

Funds will be locked away until 1 November 2008, when the Christmas Club card can be used as a pre-paid debit card with retailers signed up to the scheme or exchanged for gift vouchers at Post Office branches.* The Post Office has negotiated partnerships with around 200 retailers so far, covering grocery, wine merchants, fashion, travel and leisure, health and beauty companies. Top names include Argos, Boots, Debenhams, Halfords, House of Fraser, Peacocks, Sainsbury’s, Thorntons, Woolworths and WHSmith.

Christmas Club members will be able to benefit from further rewards as the Post Office negotiates discounts and bonuses with retailers. These deals will be announced from January and throughout 2008, and will provide significant benefits compared to current rates available from High Street savings accounts.

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Catalogue browsing boosts online shopping spend (UK)

Posted by | Nov 14, 2007 | |

Shoppers who browse a catalogue before making purchases online spend on average 25 per cent more than those who do not, new research revealed today.

Royal Mail’s Home Shopping Tracker Study 2007 revealed that on average online shoppers spend GBP 1,221 every year. But this figure jumps to GBP 1,526 for online shoppers who consult catalogues before making an internet purchase.

The study also revealed that catalogues received through the post have a stronger influence than those picked up in store. Four out of ten (39 per cent) of online shoppers browse for at least one purchase from a posted catalogue compared with 24 per cent who said they use catalogues they picked up in a store.

The research, unveiled after IMRG* predicted online sales in the run up to Christmas this year would increase 42 per cent to GBP 13.8 billion, also revealed that:

– In the past year, 47 per cent of online shoppers consulted a paper catalogue prior to an online purchase
– 61 per cent of consumers now shop from home – the highest ever recorded level, representing a 15 per cent growth since 2006
– Over 70 per cent of home shoppers say that they recycle their catalogues
– An average online shopper now purchases over 27 times a year, up 12 per cent from 2006
– 1 in 5 online shoppers are now over the age of 55 – that is double the number of two years ago

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