§ Mr. LilleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if pensioners in receipt of state pension paid via automated credit transfer will be protected from(a) bank charges and (b) withdrawal charges if they choose to draw their pensions in cash from a post office from 2003. [119419]
§ Mr. RookerI have been asked to reply.
I refer the right hon. Member to the written answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds, Central (Mr. Benn), and the hon. Member for South-East Cambridgeshire (Mr. Paice) on 7 March 2000, Official Report, columns 613-14W.
§ Mr. TruswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what methods of cash payment benefits he is considering following the introduction of automated credit transfer in post offices and against what criteria they will be evaluated. [119204]
§ Mr. RookerI have been asked to reply.
We have made it clear that people will still be able to collect their cash from post offices if they wish to do so, both before and after the move to ACT in 2003.
We are currently working with the banks and the Post Office on the detailed arrangements. The Post Office already offers banking services on an agency basis for a number of banks. The new Horizon technology currently being installed will give the Post Office the opportunity to offer banking services on an agency basis for a wider range of banks and building societies; and the Post Office have already said that they intend to install 3,000 cash machines.
We are also inviting banks to work with the Post Office to offer a basic banking service to people currently without bank accounts.
However, we recognise that there will be some people who will be unable to pay by ACT. For these, we are considering what alternative simple electronic money transmission system, which could also be accessed at post offices, may be commercially available.