An impressive 500,000 energy vouchers dispatched within four weeks and ahead of schedule.
A staggering £600m of cash distributed across post offices at speed, meticulous behind-the-scenes planning and postmasters who proved to be local heroes for their communities.
The results speak for themselves: With a redemption rate of almost 100%, it’s clear the Northern Ireland £600 Energy Bill Support Scheme’s (EBSS) voucher rollout has been a resounding success for Post Office.
The campaign has been championed by the now Department for Energy Security & Net Zero (DESNZ) and by Christopher Heaton-Harris, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
He chose to publicly praise the rollout on Twitter, posting “Great news for Northern Ireland households. Thanks to @Post Office and NI energy suppliers for their efforts in the quick delivery of this vital support.’’
So, what next for Post Office and its network of 11,500 branches across the UK?
Having ensured over £1 billion in cash payments, issued on behalf of the Government made its way into people’s hands in the last year alone, it appears one of Britain’s best-loved organisations has its sights firmly set on ‘owning’ the bill payments and cash disbursal space.
Behind the scenes of the NI energy voucher rollout & its success:
The Government’s (EBSS) rollout for Northern Ireland was agreed and completed within two months – a fantastic feat for Post Office.
However, up until the 11th hour, the Post Office found itself vying with PayPoint to be awarded the contract in the first place.
Simon Lambert
As Simon Lambert, Commercial Director of Payzone at the Post Office, explains: “We were approached by the now Department for Energy Security & Net Zero as a contender to oversee the Northern Ireland rollout around the middle of December. It was clear that there were two viable channels for the scheme.
“Customers in Northern Ireland have a higher cash centric approach to the energy market: around 75 per cent pay for their fuel with money or prepaid key and card, rather than direct debit. An energy redemption rollout would mean these customers would need cash-in-hand.
“This worked to the advantage of the Post Office as our ability to manage cash pay in and pay outs is unparalleled and we were very much in the frame because of our consistent delivery on other redemption rollouts. The evidence was clear: the Post Office is trusted to deliver, and the quality of the customer care provided by the postmasters is very much on the front foot.”
The scale of the cash payouts the Post Office potentially faced was huge: at least £300 million was the estimate once they factored every single customer wanting their voucher to be redeemed for cash. The amount distributed to post offices across Northern Ireland was then doubled to £600m ensure there would be no shortage of cash for customers.
This required working with police to help move the cash and ensure all post offices were prepared and had enough funds to pay out over a four-to-five-week period.
The Post Office worked with the Bank of Ireland and G4S and plans were also put in place for police officers to increase their presence outside or near post offices and pop in regularly to ensure postmasters and customers felt safe.
The enviable achievement in Northern Ireland is just the tip of a long line of impressive cash redemption projects.
The last decade has seen the Post Office occupy an increasingly larger share of the cash disbursal and bill payment space through a combination of need and demand. 
In the last 12 months alone, the Post Office Network has paid out cash where needed for some 2,000,000 local authority hardship funds, disability allowances, school meal vouchers, council tax rebates and as many as 10 million energy top ups.
Said Simon: “The Post Office is probably the only network that can enable these kinds of payments above the £50 cash level. It’s the last man standing in that sort of cash space and is also uniquely placed: there will be a post office within a one mile to five-mile radius of 99% of the population. It means the Post Office is perfectly placed to take charge of the cash disbursal and bill payment space.”
Logistics and infrastructure aside, it is heart, community and heritage that sit at the core of the Post Office.
For the customers who walk into a post office, it is the postmasters and those behind the counter who embody those traits. They are the local heroes of their communities.
Simon continues: “Post offices are still integral to the heart of a community and customers know that when they walk into their local branch, they will get the customer service they need and help to process a transaction in store. There is also a legacy and proven track record to the Post Office, we’ve worked with energy companies for years, they know us and trust us, and those relationships have been built over decades and are key. When it came to the EBSS NI rollout, the energy companies were on our side from the start and made it clear they were happy to work with us and supported the role the Post Office played. Cash redemption rollouts are not just about processes. The people involved and the relationships that have been established also matter.
“I can see a really strong role for the Post Office to continue working with our partners by giving them a unique helping hand to reach and support communities where others cannot. With banks increasingly closing branches, people have and will continue to become reliant on their local post office for paying their bills and receiving cash pay outs.”
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