The postal order, for years the State's most used fixed value payment method, will be discontinued by An Post from October 1st. The pre-printed postal order and money order will be replaced by a new postal money order, which will be printed on-demand for the precise value required.
An Post said changes in personal financial management, especially the growth in use of cheques and banking cards had led directly to a drop of almost 60 per cent in sales of postal orders over the last 10 years. Irish Postal orders first went on sale in 1880.
Fixed value postal orders are mainly used by Irish consumers to make small value payments.
Some 50 per cent of current sales are for amounts between £5 and £20.
A small number of Irish and UK companies bulk buy small value postal orders to give refunds to customers.
A statement from An Post said the new postal money order would be available for use by those who rely on them for purchases, charitable donations and gifts. The euro changeover was the catalyst for the decision to retire the postal order, according to An Post
A spokesman for An Post said the group had considered revamping and updating the postal order product for several years before the advent of the euro.
"The postal order is now an antiquated, inflexible financial product. It served its function over many years but has now been overtaken by more efficient point-of-sale based technologies."
