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The Post Office announced plans today to launch a Christmas saving scheme to help fill the gap left by the collapse of Christmas hamper firm Farepak.
The Post Office Christmas Club will be available from January at all of the group's branches.
People taking part in the scheme will be given a card which they can use to make deposits ranging from £5 to £500 over the counter, and they can save a maximum of £1,000 a year.
They will not be given access to funds until November next year, when they will either be able to use their Christmas Club card as a pre-paid debit card at retailers that have signed up to the scheme, or they can exchange the money for a range of gift vouchers at the Post Office.
The group has so far negotiated partnerships with around 200 retailers, including supermarkets, wine merchants, clothing groups, health and beauty firms and travel and leisure companies.
Among the companies that are taking part in the scheme are Argos, Boots, Debenhams, Halfords, House of Fraser, Peacocks, Sainsbury's, Thorntons, Woolworths and WHSmith.
The group is also negotiating discounts and bonuses for scheme members with retailers, and it said these deals would provide benefits comparable with interest rates available on high street savings accounts.
All money saved through the scheme will be held in a protected account under the control of the Bank of Ireland and the funds will only be accessible to savers.
The scheme aims to fill a gap identified in the Treasury's Review of Christmas Saving Schemes carried out by Brian Pomeroy, the chairman of the Financial Inclusion Taskforce, in the wake of the collapse of Farepak in the run up to Christmas last year.
Alan Cook, managing director of the Post Office, said: "As one of the UK's most trusted brands with an unparalleled retail network, we are responding to the need for a safe and convenient way for people to put money aside for Christmas.
"We have been working on this for many months to get the best scheme possible for our customers, to provide them with a way to save small regular amounts which ensures their cash is fully protected and looked after securely for the year until they need it at Christmas.
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