Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people making a claim for universal credit do not have a bank account in the most recent period for which figures are available; and how many of those people have received help through universal support to open a bank account.

Less than 2% of people receiving Universal Credit did not have a bank account at the point of first payment, as of April 2018, according to departmental data. Those who do not have a bank account can be paid through a Post Office Card Account, or alternatively payments can be made into someone else’s bank account. Payments can also be made using the HM Government Payment Exception Service.

We do not collect data on the number of people who received help through Universal Support to open a bank account.