Speeches

Mark Williams – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Williams on 2015-12-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what progress has been made in negotiations with Lloyd’s Bank plc about business banking services being offered through the Post Office.

George Freeman

The Post Office is negotiating with the major banks, including Lloyds and Barclays, with a view to extending and standardising the services available to the banks’ small business customers. These are commercial negotiations which are still ongoing. The Government is clear that completion of these negotiations should be a priority.

The Government is keen to see continued and wider availability of banking services through Post Office branches. In this context, we welcome the recent agreement between HSBC and the Post Office to provide HSBC’s business customers with services through Post Office branches.