People are turning to Post Office accounts after finding themselves unable to take out a mainstream current account.
More and more people are opening their first current accounts despite the economic gloom, new data from banks show.
The British Bankers' Association (BBA) conducted research on so-called "post office accessible" accounts. These services, as the name suggests, are commonly accessed through Post Office counters rather than ATMs and bank branches - and are usually taken out by people who have not, or cannot, use a mainstream current account.
This is generally due to the customer not meeting the bank's criteria for allowing them to open a standard current account.
BBA said that a total of 142,000 post office accessible accounts were opened over October-December 2008. In addition, around 20,000 existing accounts were upgraded into bank branch current accounts.
More generally, 440,000 of the 3.5 million post office accessible accounts opened since 2003 were found by the body to have been upgraded in this way. Around 794,000 "basic functionality" accounts, similar to post office accounts but which can also be accessed through ATMs and branches, were also found to have been opened over the past five years - with 214,000 upgraded.
Commenting on the general state of the basic bank accounts sector, BBA statistics director David Dooks commented: "For people with no previous banking relationship, there are now nearly eight million 'basic-function' accounts, providing a suitable first step to accessing cash and payment services.
"Banks are committed to working with government and other stakeholders to improve financial inclusion through these types of accounts."
