
Each postal order will have its own unique number, which is displayed at the bottom of the slip to keep track of the transaction.

Uncrossed postal orders don’t need a name and can be cashed at the Post Office. If you want to pay for something with a crossed postal order, you’ll specify the recipient’s name which means they’ll be the only one that can accept it. We’ve already mentioned the two types of postal orders above, including crossed and uncrossed. Value between £100 and £250 – Fee is capped at £12.50 Value between £10 and £99.99 – 12.5% of the postal order’s face value Another key difference is that you’ll pay a fee to the Post Office to use this service, which tends to make a postal order payment more costly than simply writing a cheque. Uncrossed postal orders are exchangeable for cash at any Post Office counter.Ī postal order is comparable to a cheque in many ways, but the major difference is that it’s not tied to any bank account. There are two types to choose from:Ĭrossed postal orders can be used to pay bills or to deposit directly into your bank account. Like cheques, they’re issued on slips of paper but don’t include any sensitive financial details like bank account numbers. You can only make a postal order payment for transactions up to £250. Although not accepted everywhere, you can use a postal order payment for mail orders and certain government items such as a driving licence. Rather than pay for everything in cash, postal orders presented a safe alternative. This means that they couldn’t write paper cheques to pay for big-ticket items like utility bills, wages, and rent.

Postal orders were a very common payment method before the 1960s, when many individuals didn’t have their own bank accounts. They may not be as popular as they once were, but postal orders can still be purchased at the Post Office. What is a postal order?Īlthough many of us have transitioned away from paper and toward mobile or contactless payments instead, postal orders are still a perfectly valid form of payment. Those who don’t remember them may be wondering what is a postal order, and how does a postal order work? We’ll cover these questions and more below. Perhaps you even used them to pay for something from a catalogue.

If you’re of a certain age, you may remember the days when it was normal to receive postal orders as a Christmas gift or on your birthday.
