Over £3.7 million in cash was withdrawn or deposited over the counter at 1,300 Post Office branches that were open on Christmas Day, the firm revealed on Monday.

Based on trends for this December and expectation that News Year’s Eve is not a wash-out, the Post Office predicts total cash withdrawals over the counter (personal and business) for December could exceed £1 billion for the first time ever.

Last December, a then record £963 million was withdrawn over the counter (£930 million personal cash withdrawals and £32.8 million business cash withdrawals).

On Christmas Day, just over £1 million was withdrawn and almost £1.5 million was deposited by personal customers over the counter. In addition, over £1.2 million was deposited by business customers.

In total over £3.7 million in cash was deposited and withdrawn on Christmas Day. This compares to £3 million on Christmas Day 2023.

The biggest day for personal cash withdrawals this December was Monday 23 December when £61.2 million was withdrawn over the counter. This fell just short of the all-time record which was Friday 22 December 2023 when personal customers withdrew £62.4 million.

“Millions of people rely on being able to access cash every day at their local Post Office and it’s no different on Christmas Day,” Ross Borkett, Post Office banking director, said.

“Record breaking amounts of cash being withdrawn this month will come as no surprise to postmasters and their teams who have worked flat out this month ensuring their local customers have been able do their everyday banking at this critical time of year.

“Business cash deposits being made on Christmas Day indicate just how vital it is that pub, cafe and restaurant owners have somewhere open and convenient to deposit their much-needed Christmas cash takings ahead of a quieter January.”

On Christmas Day itself, just over 1,300 branches, predominantly operated by independent postmasters and located in convenience stores, served customers. Post Office has 11,500 branches across the UK and typically has around 4,000 branches open on weekends.