Cash handled by Post Offices exceeds £2.9 billion mark again

Total cash handled by UK Post Offices again exceeded £2.9 billion in October, the second month in a row, stated recent reports citing latest figures.

As per data released by the Post Office, business cash deposits were more than £1bn for the fifth month in a row and personal cash withdrawals were at their highest point of the year with £692m handed out over the counter, up 1 per cent in September.

Overall, business and personal cash deposits in October were up by 15 per cent year on year.

The figures come amid the ongoing ‘Save Our Cash’ campaign by the Post Office calling for the government to speed up legislation to protect access to cash for the millions of people and businesses that rely on it.

Martin Kearsley, banking director at the Post Office, said: “Small businesses, particularly in the hospitality and leisure sectors, recognise the value of cash now more than ever.

“Many of their customers rely on cash, and to ensure services they offer are available to everyone in their communities, they need to accept cash to operate.

“Post Offices are a local, secure and reliable place where they can quickly deposit it without missing out on trade,” Kearsley said, adding that postmasters are keeping their branches open long hours and “playing an essential role in the cash ecosystem in their community”.

Last month’s figures revealed that the Post Offices had handled £2.99bn of cash in September – the highest amount in a single month in its 360 year history. Report from last month mentioned that branches have already had the busiest first week for cash ever in October – and deposits and withdrawals are expected to exceed £3bn this month.

In September, Post Offices handled some £1.06bn in business cash deposits, up by around 3 per cent month-on-month. Personal cash deposits stood at around £1.2bn in September, while a total of £685m was withdrawn over the counter at the Post Office’s 11,500 branches, reports said.