Housing allowance, active solidarity income (RSA), disabled adult allowance (AAH), family allowances ... These benefits are usually paid by the Family Allowance Funds (CAF) on the 5th of the month, except when this day falls on a Sunday , as was the case in April. The payment then generally takes place on the 6th. This month, it should have taken place on Tuesday 7 April.
But in order not to penalize recipients and allow cash withdrawals from banks, whose opening hours are often changed due to the Covid-19 epidemic, the payment of social assistance will be made this month with two working days in advance. "Social aid will be available on the beneficiaries' account from Saturday April 4," said one in the office of the Secretary of State for Solidarity, Christelle Dubos.
Advancing the payment aims, according to the government, to "ensure that everyone will be able to receive their aid in good time" by making it possible to anticipate "trips to bank branches to avoid long waits and difficulties in meeting the rules of social distance ”taken to curb the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic. In fact, some of the most financially fragile recipients have only a limited banking offer and must go to the counter to receive their aid.
Post offices closed on Saturday
Because of its more fragile clientele and its mission of banking accessibility, the Postal Bank is naturally on the front line. Its clientele includes around 2 million recipients of social assistance, of which 1.5 million physically go to post offices to withdraw money, either at the counter or at bank machines. "We have been working on this subject for several days and will do our utmost to respond to this situation in the current context," said a spokesperson for the La Poste group.
If the social aid will be effectively paid by the CAF on the bank accounts of individuals from Saturday April 4, the post offices will remain closed on this day, as already last Saturday. La Poste is indeed afraid of a crowd that it would not be able to manage.
“We cannot open offices three hours on Saturday morning, before Sunday; it would be very complicated to implement the barrier measures that protect both our customers and the staff, ”said this source.
In advance, the Postal Bank will therefore send SMS messages to its customers with bank cards these days in order to encourage them to make their withdrawals as much as possible from ATMs. "For customers who have withdrawal ceilings, we raised these ceilings with the Postal Bank (up to 1500 euros) and they will be notified by SMS", continues this spokesperson for La Poste.
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The fact remains that out of two million Postal Bank clients receiving social benefits, no less than "500,000 show up at the counters in the first three days after the payment of benefits", according to the same source. To cope with these three "complex" days of very heavy traffic, Swiss Post will set up an "exceptional system".
250 additional offices opened on Monday and post office reinforcements
While 1,600 post offices have remained open since the start of containment on Tuesday March 17, an additional 2,500 offices will be opened starting next Monday. This will bring to 1850 the number of offices able to cope with the influx of customers.
"But we will not be able to accommodate 50 people at a time inside an office as is usually the case," explains this spokesperson for La Poste. So we have planned markings on the ground, we are currently recruiting security guards to strengthen their presence and we will install external barriers to filter the flow of people. ” In addition, additional staff will be mobilized.
"We have launched a call for volunteers," continues this source. There are around 12,000 account managers currently present in open post offices (note: formerly the counters) , counting the leave for babysitters which is the main reason for the reduction in staff. Thanks to the bank advisers, managers and postal workers in the support functions who have volunteered, we will be able to mobilize 20,000 agents to make withdrawals at the counters, orient postal workers and organize things in offices. "
Offices in which are gradually being installed, as in many shops and supermarkets, Plexiglas partitions in order to better respect barrier gestures.