Our inclusion agenda

Our Post Office network is bigger than all of the UK high street banks combined. Around 20 million customers visit per week.

Key facts

• Royal Mail Letters and Parcels deliver to almost 29 million UK addresses six-days-a-week.
• The Post Office network is bigger than all of the UK high street banks combined.
• Post Office has a network of 2,100 free-to-use ATMs, meaning cash is available even in the most remote or deprived parts of the country.
• Post Office Card Account and Green Giro cheque encashment enable around four million people within the UK to regularly obtain their pension and benefit payments in cash, whether or not they have a bank account.
• Post Office has actively promoted digital inclusion and been involved in a number of nationwide campaigns to help our customer to get online.

Strategic priorities

Royal Mail Group is proud to be a major force promoting inclusion for all members of our society.

• Geographical inclusion. Royal Mail Group wishes to remain a vital part of the UK’s economic and social infrastructure.
• Financial inclusion. The Post Office plays an important role ensuring that UK citizens are not financially excluded.
• Digital inclusion. The Post Office is in a unique position to offer access to services for those who cannot or do not wish to use the internet.

Geographical Inclusion

Royal Mail Group is a vital part of the UK’s economic and social infrastructure. As the Universal Service Provider we are committed to providing a postal delivery to every address in the UK every working day. We collect mail from over 115,000 post boxes – often more than once a day – as well as from over 11,500 Post Offices and more than 80,000 businesses. Our Post Office network is bigger than all of the

UK high street banks combined. Around 20 million customers visit per week.(1)

Royal Mail’s six-days-a-week, one-price-goes anywhere Universal Service means that those in rural communities are not disadvantaged because of where they live. The postal service represents a key communication channel for rural residents and businesses. This supports effective social action and cohesion.

Financial Inclusion

The Post Office plays an important role in promoting financial inclusion within the UK. Its network of free-to-use ATMs and the capability to obtain cash over Post Office Counters for most of the UK’s major banks ensures cash is available in even the most remote or deprived parts of the country.

The Post Office also offers a strong portfolio of products which support financial inclusion. Many of these services are available into the evening and at weekends from the shops in which Post Offices are located. These financial inclusion products include:

• Post Office Card Account and Green Giro cheque encashment which enable around four million people within the UK to regularly obtain their pension and benefit payments in cash, whether or not they have a bank account.
• Budget Card and Christmas Club – simple saving mechanisms for people to make small regular cash saving payments which can be redeemed at Christmas or to pay key bills.
• Bill payment facilities for utilities to enable those on low incomes to regularly pay for energy services.
• Postal Orders/Moneygram – convenient ways for people to send/transmit money across the UK or overseas without recourse to bank accounts.

The Post Office also enables access to a full range of government services, which assist the financially excluded, including rent/rates payments, discount travelcards and vouchers for local authority services (such as meals on wheels or school uniform vouchers). We are encouraged by the commitment shown by the UK Government in providing the opportunity for Post Offices to extend their role to become the ‘front office’ for national and local government.

The Post Office is in active discussions with ABCUL (Association of British Credit Unions Ltd) to see if it is possible to develop a national system to offer access to credit union services.

Digital inclusion

There are nine million people in the UK who are not online. There is a large overlap between the socially deprived and digitally deprived members of the community. Many of those people walk through the doors of Post Offices everyday. The Post Office is therefore in a unique position to offer access to services for those who cannot or do not wish to use the internet.

This is particularly important as Government services increasingly migrate online. The Post Office can also assist in those areas where a physical interaction is needed alongside online contact, for example in validating identity. The Post Office has also played a key role in working with RaceOnline2012’s Go On campaign and UK Online’s centres around the UK in order to close the digital divide.

The Post Office has delivered digital inclusion awareness raising training to all its branch colleagues to encourage them to help their customers to get online or to sign post them to their nearest public centre offering online facilities and education. The Post Office has also used its marketing channels to distribute information to customers about how they can help friends and family get online.

The Post Office is working with the National Federation of Subpostmasters to encourage the agency network of over 11,500 branches across the UK to get more digital champions on board.

Priorities for 2011/12

• Continued investment in the Post Office network, including working with Subpostmasters to develop and introduce more flexible operating models.
• Expanding the range of accessible and affordable financial services available via Post Offices.
• Continuing to support initiatives to lessen the digital divide, including recruiting more digital champions.

Further information

Department for Work and Pensions: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/

Association of British Credit Unions: http://www.abcul.org/home

Race Online: http://raceonline2012.org/

UK Online: http://www.ukonlinecentres.com/

(1) This figure is based on quarterly research. The most recent quarter was July – September 2011.