The Closure of Post Office Card Accounts is Unacceptable: Sanders

1.00.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 31st Jul 2006

Adrian Sanders MP for Torbay has condemned the announcement that Ministers intend to abolish the Post Office Card Account (POCA) despite massive opposition.

Adrian commented:

"Over the past few months hundreds of thousands of people who use the Post Office Card Accounts have signed petitions calling for it to be retained. The Government has decided to ignore this and continue its plans to scrap it. This is unacceptable."

He added:

"Over 10,000 people have their benefit and pensions payment put into POCA in my constituency, this is a large amount of people who will be forced to change if the closure of these accounts takes place. This announcement shows that little progress has been made to develop a successor account. While the new instant saver is a welcome development, it will only be appropriate for some customers."

"Before proceeding with further pilots, the Government must ensure that a successor to POCA has been developed. Pensioners and claimants need to be assured that they can transfer to a new card easily and that new hurdles will not be erected when the card accounts close. Otherwise this change will damage vulnerable people and post offices alike."