GSP 18-21 Business Update – Retail
22/June/2021
Description
I wish to update you regarding business developments in An Post Retail.
Existing Products/Services
There is a growing confidence that foreign exchange business will, not alone return to pre pandemic business levels, but that it will grow further as An Post consolidates its position as the largest most accessible financial services provider in the state.
Postmobile business has also grown its market share in the past year with the current base now in excess of 10k customers.
Advantage Card sales have also exceeded all expectations since its introduction, driven mainly by the surge in online business.
Obviously, the drop in social welfare transactions has been the fly in the ointment and the consequent knock on effect this has on the bill-pay business. However, talks are continuing to return Job Seekers Assistance & Job Seekers Benefit, that went online in the last year, back to Post Offices.
New Products/Services
In terms of new services, the most significant development is the contract with Bank of Ireland. A total of eighty eight branches of Bank of Ireland are scheduled to close with the lodgements and withdrawals business to transfer to An Post. The lodgements business will include the acceptance of cheques and this service will be available at all Post Offices nationwide. This is an important and timely contract given the impact that the COVID 19 Pandemic has had on the business over the past 15 months and it will undoubtedly help to secure jobs on post office counters in the coming years. An Post expect to launch the service in August with rollout to commence in September.
Plans to introduce a sales support role outside post office counters, or more commonly known as a “Greeter”, were put on hold last year due to the Pandemic. However, An Post intend to put that concept into practice in the coming months. The primary role is to engage with customers, establish their needs and where appropriate, redirect them to the self-service area to avoid queuing, with the ultimate goal of improving customer experience and growing business levels. The Company will shortly look for volunteers in 12 to 15 locations nationwide where the full suite of self-service technology has been installed. Training will be given to all Staff involved in advance. A review of the role and its impact will take place before any roll-out in the wider branch network.
Customer surveying will shortly be introduced across all channels, i.e. Post Offices, Customer Contact Centre, Money App, Social Media and the Website. The aim is to measure and improve customer experience across these channels on selected products and services. In Post Offices, no teller information will be captured as part of the survey and the results will only be linked back to a branch and not to the tellers within the branch.
Finally, the new An Post Money App, with increased capabilities and functionality, will be formally launched online on Thursday 24th June @ 7pm and all Staff are invited to join this with further details to be communicated by An Post via their PostPeople App, Internal Email/Posters. The launch will introduce participants to Money Mate, a new feature aimed at younger customers who, under parental supervision, can use the App to manage their finances.