New figures released today (13 January) reveal that for the first time on record, cash withdrawals at post offices exceeded £1 billion in a single month.
Post Office branches saw £979 million worth of personal cash withdrawals over the counter in December and £35 million worth of business cash withdrawals.
The previous record high was set in December 2023 when a total of £962.8 million worth of personal and business cash withdrawals were made.
In total, £3.7 billion worth of cash deposits and withdrawals too place across the counter at post offices in December. This compares with £3.53 billion in November.
Personal cash and business cash deposits totalled £2.69 billion in December up over 11 per cent year-on-year (£2.42 billion, December 2024).
Personal cash deposits totalled £1.53 billion, up 5 per cent month-on-month (£1.45 billion, November 2024) and up almost 16 per cent year-on-year (£1.32 billion, December 2023).
Business cash deposits totalled £1.17 billion, up 3.8 per cent month-on-month (£1.12 billion, November 2024) and up 6 per cent year-on-year (£1.10 billion, December 2023).
On Christmas Day itself, over £3.7 million in cash was withdrawn or deposited over the counter at 1,300 Post Office branches that were open.
“Our figures demonstrate that millions of people clearly still rely on cash to manage their budget on a day-to-day basis. We saw significant amounts of cash withdrawn every day in the run up to Christmas Day, highlighting just how vital it is for people to be able to withdraw the amount of cash that they need, to the penny if they require, at our branches,” Ross Borkett, Post Office banking director, said.
“It’s testament to the hard work of postmasters and their staff that over a billion pounds was withdrawn over the counter in a single month. They keep their branches open long hours, with many open at weekends. We know that where cash is withdrawn locally it tends to be spent locally, demonstrating the vital role postmasters play in keeping local high streets going and attracting footfall which benefits other nearby retailers too.”
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