Post Office Card Account

Part of Opposition Day — [20th Allotted Day] – in the House of Commons at 7:29 pm on 10 November 2008.

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Photo of Jennifer Willott Jennifer Willott Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 7:29, 10 November 2008

I am not going to give way immediately.

A further issue concerns those who cannot open bank accounts and involves another group of people we should be considering today. Basic bank accounts do not make any money for banks, and it is becoming increasingly difficult for some people—those with poor credit histories, large debts, previous debt problems or no address, and people with certain mental health problems—to open one. In the current climate, banks do not want to take on additional risk, and the number of people in that group is actually increasing. Therefore, when the Government moved giros to direct payment and made people open basic bank accounts or Post Office card accounts, 40 per cent. of the people converting opened the latter—a figure far higher than expected. They could have chosen to open a bank account, but they did not want to or were not able to.