The Post Office has been given the go-ahead to complete its acquisition of the Payzone bill payment business by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

With over 500 million bill payment transactions across the UK last year, the newly-approved deal will provide nearly 25,000 locations at which customers can pay their household bills quickly and conveniently.

Post Office retail chief executive, Debbie Smith, said: “We’re thrilled to welcome Payzone’s bill payments network into the wider Post Office group. Bill payments are a vital service for customers, particularly for many vulnerable or elderly customers and people who don’t have online access so rely on paying their bills over the counter.

“This deal allows us to more than double our bill payment network. Through our combined reach of 25,000 bill payment outlets we are now in an even stronger position to compete for new and bigger bill payment contracts, helping to bring in more customers for Post Office branches and Payzone retailers alike.”

The deal, which sees the Post Office acquire an additional network of more than 13,000 Payzone bill payment outlets open more than 100 hours a week, is expected to be completed in the next week.

Work will also begin on integrating technology in both Payzone outlets and Post Offices, so customers will be able to pay the same bills at either a Payzone outlet or a Post Office branch.