Post Offices across the UK have reported a 15 per cent year-on-year increase in personal cash withdrawals for February.
It comes as the Post Office rolls outs Banking Hubs in communities which has led postmasters to declare that “there’s no way that cash is dying out”.
High streets have been hit by bank branch closures with Barclays, NatWest and Lloyds being among the financial institutions to close sites.
Certain communities have been left without sufficient access to cash services despite the fact many Britons are still continuing to make withdrawals.
Some £806million in personal cash withdrawals were recorded at the company’s 11,500 branches which was bolstered due to 2024 being a leap year.
This amount represents a 15 per cent annual rise from last year and a 3.6 per cent hike compared to January.
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The Post Office saw a year-on-year surge in cash withdrawals
POST OFFICE
According to the Post Office, personal cash deposits for the period totalled £1.28billion which is a jump of 6.2 per cent year-on-year.
Last month, personal cash deposits were recorded higher due to January 2024 being a longer month, totalling £1.42billion.
With its partnerships with banks, building societies and credit unions, around 99 per cent of bank customers in the UK can access their savings accounts through the Post Office.
Cash deposits for businesses totalled £1.06billion increased by 6.7 per cent last month but remained lower than January’s reported £1.14billion in business cash deposits.
Overall, £3.18billion worth of cash transactions were handled by Post Offices across the country in February 2024.
Last month, the locations for an additional seven Banking Hubs were announced by the Post Office to help people get access to banking services.
This takes the total to 109 Banking Hubs with 40 of these sites providing shared spaces with Cash Access UK.
At these locations, the Post Office provides customers with everyday banking and cash services to local residents and businesses.
Ross Borkett, the Post Office’s banking director, cited that last month’s figures are evidence that cash is still being used by millions across the UK.
He said: “February’s cash withdrawal and deposit figures suggests that a significant number of people and businesses continue to rely on being able to access their cash, for free, at their local post office in order to help with day-to-day management of their finances.”
Mairi Wingate, who has been a postmaster for 36 years, runs the Banking Hub in Barton-upon-Humber which replaced the community’s local Lloyds branch.
She claims that “lots of new faces” have visited the Post Office branch to access cash who she has not seen before.
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Ms Wingate claims there is "no way cash is dying out" from what she has seen from her Banking Hub
POST OFFICE
Wingate explained: “They are in different areas of the town and the Post Office is still as busy dealing with banking deposits and withdrawals.
“This shows the extent of the banking needs of the town and the surrounding villages. There’s no way that cash is dying out.
“With the cost of living situation, using cash makes it easier for people to budget and businesses are happy to accept cash from customer as long as there are nearby places to do banking.
"Places like the nearby amusement arcade has lots of coins for banking.”