Modernising payment of benefits and pensions for 13 million people
PA has helped the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to bring social security payment methods into the twenty-first century, to save the public a projected £0.5 billion per annum. Currently, over half of benefits and pensions entail paper-based transactions at the Post Office®. Since this outmoded process is both expensive and open to abuse, the Government has set a target to increase the proportion of benefits paid electronically into bank accounts from 43% to at least 85% over a two-year period – with the balance of customers being provided an alternative that does not rely on the current order book process. Underpinning this target is the goal of increasing the levels of financial and social inclusion within the UK.
The Government’s objective is being achieved through two programmes:
The Payment Modernisation Programme (PMP)
This programme creates the strategy for converting 13 million customers’ payments to electronic methods, manages the communications necessary to persuade these customers to embrace the change, and implements the conversion.
The universal banking programme
So that customers can, if they choose, continue to collect benefits at the Post Office, nationwide access to basic banking has been provided at Post Office® branches. This new facility required the co-operation not only of the DWP and Post Office, but also of the Inland Revenue, Northern Ireland Social Security Agency and high street banks.
PA’s support for both programmes has helped to ensure that they are on target, with the customer conversion process starting in Autumn 2002 and universal banking becoming available in April 2003.
"Delivering universal banking has been a massive undertaking for the Post Office. The efforts the PA team has made to understand Post Office business drivers and resolve issues collaboratively undoubtedly helped us launch on time and manage operational and customer behaviour issues."
Kevin Gilliland,
Head of Banking Requirements, Post Office Ltd
Our work at the Department for Work and Pensions is an award-winning example of PA acting as an Independent Delivery Partner to our clients
