Post Office now accepting American Express

In one swoop, the Post Office has become the largest retail network in the UK to accept American Express cards.  As of last week, all 11,500 Post Office branches in the UK are accepting Amex for transactions for which they would previously have accepted a MasterCard or Visa.

At present, this only applies to transactions which you complete at a counter.  Self-service stamp printing machines will accept Amex from the end of the year but will take some time to convert them all.  It is also not yet possible to use American Express for online Post Office purchases.

To quote from the press release:

“We want to make it as easy as possible to access our services through longer opening hours and by offering the widest range of payment options. We have the largest presence of any retailer in the UK, and this move will help the 17 million customers who visit us each week. Accepting American Express Cards at all of our branches allows us to open the door to more customers giving them flexibility and choice when it comes to paying for goods or services.”

What is not clear is exactly what transactions can be done with a credit card at a Post Office.  It is obviously OK when buying stamps or stationery.  I assume that the One4All gift cards which you can buy at a Post Office are also included although these can be tricky to use.  It is no longer possible to buy a TV Licence at a Post Office so that knocks out one potential option.

My initial view is that this is less exciting than it first appears, but you never know.

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