The Post Office is predicting that close to £1 billion worth of cash will be withdrawn over the counter at its branches in December.
Last December, Post Offices handled a then record £930 million worth of personal cash withdrawals at its branches.
New figures released today (10) reveal the impact ‘Storm Bert’ had on cash transactions at PostOffices in November. Just over £3.5 billion in cash deposits and withdrawals were handled by branches in November. This compared with £3.7 billion in October and PostOffice has attributed this month-on-month fall to ‘Storm Bert’ which impacted Wales, the South West of England, Central England and Scotland at the end of November.
Personal cash deposits totalled £1.45 billion which was down 4.5% month-on-month (£1.52 billion, October 2024) but was up 12.3 per cent year-on-year (£1.29 billion, November 2024). Business cash deposits in November totalled £1.12 billion which was down 7 per cent month-on-month (£1.21 billion, October 2024) but was up 1.5 per cent year-on-year (£1.11 billion, November 2024).
Personal cash withdrawals totalled £916 million in November which dipped 1.3 per cent month-on-month (£928 million, October 2024) but was up 4.3 per cent year-on-year (£879 million, November 2024).
Ross Borkett, Post Office Banking Director, said, “Following the large-scale disruption caused by Storm Bert last month, postmasters and their teams are on hand to support small businesses who desperately rely on cash takings in the run-up to Christmas. Our branches provide somewhere convenient and secure where they can deposit their cash.
“Many people rely on cash in order to budget in the run-up to Christmas Day and the trends we’re seeing indicate that personal cash withdrawals will be greater in December than the previous year.
"People can withdraw the cash they need, to the penny, at our branches with many open long hours and on the weekend.”
Post Office Cash tracker data – November 2024
Cash deposits value (business & personal) | MOM% | YOY% | Cash withdrawals value (business & personal) | MOM% | YOY% | Total cash deposits & withdrawal value for November 2024 | |
UK[1] | £2.57bn | -5.6% | +7.3% | £951m | -1.3% | +4.4% | £3.52bn |
England | £2.14bn | -5.8% | +7.6% | £747.4m | -1.4% | +4.7% | £2.89bn |
Scotland | £174.5m | -6.6% | +7.3% | £64.4m | +0.6% | +1.8% | £238.8m |
Wales | £134.2m | -5.0% | +9.4% | £74.7m | -1.2% | +5.1% | £208.8m |
Northern Ireland | £126.5m | -2.7% | +1.1% | £64.7m | -2.0% | +2.8% | £191.2m |
Business cash deposits
Personal cash deposits
Personal cash withdrawals
Banking Hubs
As at 16 October, 88 hubs have been opened in partnership between Cash Access UK and the Post Office. 168 Banking Hubs have now been announced by LINK with further openings planned for later this year.
Simon Hannah
