The Co-operative Group has seen sales of its savings stamps soar by a third.

The group, which launched its new ‘protected’ Christmas savings scheme trust fund in January, sold more than £200,000 in savings stamps in February – up one third on the same period in 2012.

The latest scheme was set up in response to the collapse of the Farepak Christmas Club in 2006, when almost 120,000 people lost an average of £400 each.

The new structure, developed with input from the Farepak Victims Committee, transfers money into a trust account managed by an independent trustee, which provides protection for customer funds.

Customers can buy £1 stamps throughout the year and anyone who redeems a full saving stamps book (with £48 worth of stamps) in December will also receive a £2 bonus.

“Our new saving stamps trust fund is proving extremely attractive to our food customers, who appreciate the new layer of protection the scheme gives – something no other retailer provides,” said Martyn Wates, deputy chief executive of The Co-operative Group.

“To see sales of our saving stamps increase so significantly so early in the year is testimony to the fact our customers know we are a retailer they can trust.”