The Case for a Post Bank

A proposal for a publically-owned bank based at the Post Office network which would provide reliable financial products to small businesses and promote financial inclusion.

The Case for a Post Bank sets out a vision for a secure, accessible local banking system based at Post Office branches. The Post Bank would provide stable and dependable services in the midst of economic uncertainty. It would reconnect finance with the productive economy, and move away from the careless speculation that caused the current crisis, towards banking practices that are better connected with the needs of small businesses and local economies.

At a time when three million people in the UK are still without bank accounts, and when bank and post office branches have been closed in the country’s poorest areas, it is crucial that the Government invest in a banking system which serves ordinary people and works towards financial inclusion. A Post Bank would prevent further post office closures and provided unprecedent reach via its 11,500 branches.

The Post Bank would also provide the financial support that the UK’s small businesses so desperately need. By offering appropriate and reliable credit, the Post Bank would be able to help small businesses — the bedrock of the UK economy — to weather the current economic storm.

The Post Bank Coalition are:

• The Communication Workers’ Union
• The Federation of Small Businesses
• nef (the new economics foundation)
• Unite the Union
• The Public Interest Research Centre
• The National Pensioners’ Convention