I think there would have been absolute uproar from pensioners etc who are used to going to their post office to collect their pensions had they awarded it to a bank or something similar.
I have mixed feelings on the postal service. When it works, the service is astonishingly good. However I have had so many bad experiences with strikes, things going missing, money being taken from envelopes etc etc that I find it hard to have any sympathy with them at times. Still this is good news for everybody.