THE HUMBLE POST office could be the saviour of the Irish financial services sector – according to the Irish Postmasters’ Union (IPU).

The union has said today that the post office could be “a central part of the re-organisation of banking services in Ireland”. The postmasters are advising the Government to take advantage of the fact that there are 1,100 fully automated post offices across the country and that many are in areas that are normally neglected by more traditional banking services providers.

IPU General Secretary Brian McGann said:

The Post Office network is larger than the 900 branches held by AIB, BoI, NIB, TSB and Ulster Bank combined. This means that Post Offices have the greatest capacity of any provider in the country to deliver financial services.

It is already possible for An Post customers to pay bills, receive social welfare payments, access savings and other financial services at post offices.

“There is no reason why local post offices can’t provide a whole variety of services,” said Mr McGann. “We are open for business and that means serving customers five and a half days each week. People know and trust us and we will be there for our customers when they need us.”

What do you think: should post offices be used to provide more financial services in the new banks restructuring plan?