The UK's Link Interchange Network (Link) has processed the first payments for the Post Office's new banking service.
The new service is part of the UK government's move to a system of direct payments for welfare benefits and transfers funds from Post Offices into 'basic bank accounts', which are offered by 16 participating financial services firms.
Link won the £2.4 million contract to develop a network for the processing of payments between Post Offices and customers' banks in 2001.
The company says the network will enable five million basic bank account holders to withdraw cash from over 80,000 service points, including 17,500 Post Offices and 42,300 ATMs.
Scott Housley, head of corporate relations, Link, says the project is part of a move towards offering a wider portfolio of transaction management services, including branch sharing transactions and a mobile phone top ups at cash machines.
The firm currently processes and settles over two billion transactions every year and expects this figure to rise significantly as a result of the Post banking services.