Press release -
Cash withdrawals exceed £1 billion at Post Offices for first time on record
- Post Offices saw over £1 billion in cash withdrawn over its counters in December – the first time cash withdrawals have ever exceeded a billion pounds in a single month.
- The Post Office saw £979 million worth of personal cash withdrawals in December and £35 million worth of business cash withdrawals.
- In total, cash deposits and withdrawals across the counter at Post Offices totalled £3.7 billion.
- Personal cash and business cash deposits totalled £2.69 billion in December up over 11% year-on-year (£2.42 billion, December 2024).
- On Christmas Day itself, over £3.7 million in cash was withdrawn or deposited over the counter at 1,300 Post Office branches that were open.
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% year-on-year (£2.42 billion, December 2024).
Personal cash deposits totalled £1.53 billion, up 5% month-on-month (£1.45 billion, November 2024) and up almost 16% year-on-year (£1.32 billion, December 2023).
Business cash deposits totalled £1.17 billion, up 3.8% month-on-month (£1.12 billion, November 2024) and up 6% 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On Christmas Day itself, over £3.7 million in cash was withdrawn or deposited over the counter at 1,300 Post Office branches that were open.
Ross Borkett, Post Office Banking Director, said:
“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 We saw significant amounts of cash withdrawn every day in the run up to Christmas Day, highlighting just how vital it is for people to be able to withdraw the amount of cash that they need, to the penny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.
“It’s testament to the hard work of Postmasters and their staff that over a billion pounds was withdrawn over the counter in a single month.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.”
Post Office Cash tracker data – December 2024
Cash deposits value (business & personal) | MOM% | YOY% | Cash withdrawals value (business & personal) | MOM% | YOY% | Total cash deposits & withdrawal value for December 2024 | |
UK[1] | £2.69bn | +4.5% | +11.4% | £1.01bn | +6.7% | +5.4% | £3.70bn |
England | £2.22bn | +3.8% | +11.5% | £789.4m | +5.6% | +5.5% | £3.00bn |
Scotland | £189.7m | +8.7% | +13.7% | £72.7m | +13.0% | +5.1% | £262.4m |
Wales | £142.9m | +6.5% | +12.2% | £81.2m | +8.7% | +5.8% | £224.1m |
Northern Ireland | £138.5m | +9.5% | +6.1% | £71.3m | +10.2% | +4.3% | £209.8m |
Business cash deposits
Personal cash deposits
Personal cash withdrawals
Banking Hubs
As at 11 December 2024, 100 hubs have been opened in partnership between Cash Access UK and the Post Office. 176 Banking Hubs have now been announced by LINK with further openings planned for later this year.
For further data and analysis, visit https://corporate.postoffice.co.uk/cashtracker
[1] Figures for cash deposits value and cash withdrawals value by country have been rounded to the nearest million. This is why value figures per country will not add up exactly to the total for the UK.
Categories
About the Post Office
- With over 11,500 branches, Post Office has the biggest retail network in the UK, with more branches than all the banks and building societies combined.
- Post Office is helping anyone who wants cash to get it whichever way is most convenient. Partnership with over 30 banks, building societies and credit unions means that 99% of UK bank customers can access their accounts at their Post Office.
- Cash withdrawals, deposits and balance enquiries can be made securely and conveniently over the counter at any Post Office; and the biggest investment by any organisation or company in the last decade is being made to safeguard 1,400 free-to-use ATMs across the UK.
- Post Office is simplifying its proposition for Postmasters with a focus on its cash and banking; mails and parcels; foreign exchange; and; bill payments services.
- Research has found that visits to the Post Office help drive another 400 million visitors to other shops, restaurants and local businesses equating to an estimated £1.1 billion in additional revenue for High Street businesses.
- 99.7% of the population live within three miles of a Post Office; and 4,000 branches are open seven days a week.
