Personal Cash Deposits to Post Office up 10 Percent on Last Year

A sign outside a Post Office in England on Nov. 3, 2009. Lewis Stickley/PA

Cash access and usage “remains vital,” the Post Office said after it reported handling £1.57 billion in personal cash deposits in January, a 10 percent increase on the same time last year.

The figures released by the Post Office on Monday found that despite January and February being the quietest months for cash transactions, personal cash deposits last month were up 2.7 percent on December 2024, when there were £1.52 billion deposits.

While personal cash withdrawals fell from a record high in December of £979 million to £828 million (down 15 percent), this was still up almost 6.5 percent year-on-year.

Post Office Banking Director Ross Borkett said: “Being able to access and budget with cash remains vital for millions of people every day, particularly in the New Year after a busy Christmas period.

“Many postmasters went to extraordinary lengths to keep their branches open and serving customers during the bad weather in January and that’s reflected in our figures with over £3.5 billion handled by postmasters and their teams last month.”

6,000 Bank Branches Closed

The increased engagement from members of the public with the Post Office for their banking comes amid a falling number of high street banks.

Consumer advocacy group Which? has been tracking bank branch closures and said last month that since January 2015, 6,266 branches have closed, a rate of around 53 a month—nearly two a day.

Major banks have agreed to fund community shared banking hubs, to ensure continued access for people and businesses, though Cash Access UK, a not-for-profit company funded by nine banks.

In September, new rules from the Financial Conduct Authority came into force whereby people could request an assessment of cash access in their area.

If a significant gap in cash access is found, new services will be induced, which could involve installing an ATM, establishing a banking hub, or introducing a counter service for banking at an existing Post Office.

As of January 2025, Cash Access UK opened 106 hubs in partnership with the Post Office, which is taking an increasingly significant role in offering banking services.

The Post Office Banking Framework also allows personal and business customers belonging to dozens of banks, building societies, and credit unions to withdraw and deposit cash and cheques and check their balance at 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK.

More Banking Hubs Needed

The government has committed to opening 350 banking hubs by the end of this parliament in 2029.

Ron Delnevo, chairman of the Payment Choice Alliance, said that while banking hubs are an answer, it does not provide the full solution.

Delnevo previously told The Epoch Times that his organisation estimates that “we need a minimum of 1,200 [banking hubs] to properly cover the UK.”

The Payment Choice Alliance chairman highlighted the importance of local businesses being able to access cash for their floats and deposit their end-of-day takings in order to continue to be able to accept cash, which in turn keeps the payment method circulating in local communities.

“Those banking hubs would give businesses an opportunity to deposit cash. But at the moment, with the bank branches disappearing, it’s often a 15 to 20-mile round trip for businesses to conveniently deposit cash,” he said.

A selection of UK bank notes and pound coins, in an undated file photo. Dominic Lipinski/PA

Delnevo added that despite Post Offices also offering bank services in-branch, many branches have limited opening hours and are not open on Saturday afternoons.

Acceptance of Cash Inquiry

In November, the Treasury Committee launched an inquiry into whether there is a need to mandate the acceptance of physical cash.

In December, the committee heard from several experts who described the importance of cash for the disabled, survivors of economic abuse, businesses, and local markets.

Delnevo told The Epoch Times in January that cash access was a cross-generational issue, noting that Generation Z were increasingly turning to cash for budgeting and privacy reasons. He also said cash remains vital for national resilience, such as during power outages and as a backup in case systems are hacked.

Last week, Gareth Thomas, the parliamentary under-secretary of state for business and trade, said he wants the banking industry to do more work with the government to ensure better access to financial services, especially for small businesses.

Thomas told the House of Commons, “The Government have said that accessing physical banking services is important, which is why we are working closely with banks to roll out 350 banking hubs to provide people with critical cash and banking services on their doorstep.”

He added that with the Post Office now involved in offering basic banking services, the government would “hold the Post Office to account to ensure there is enough provision across the country,” saying the government wants 99 percent of the population to live within three miles of a Post Office.