To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many adults without access to a bank account have a Post Office Card Account. (150170)

[holding answer 17 July 2007]: As Minister in DWP with responsibility for the Post Office card account I have been asked to reply.

There are just over four million customers currently using Post Office card accounts. Research for the Financial Inclusion Taskforce¹ showed that around 73 per cent. of people with a Post Office card account also had access to a bank account. This suggests that around one million Post Office card account customers do not have access to a bank account.

¹ "Access to Financial Services by those on the Margins of Banking", published in November 2006.