Post Office cash deposit drops in November

Post Offices handled £2.4 billion in personal and business cash deposits in November,
a 2 per cent fall month-on-month.

The fall is attributed the fall to newly introduced deposit limits that are being set
by banks in response to FCA concerns about money laundering. As a result, business cash deposits only grew by 0.8 per cent month-on-month at a time of year when Post Office would expect significant increase in business cash deposits.

This raises the concern that these limits are impacting legitimate personal and
business customers and their access to local deposit facilities. In contrast, personal cash withdrawals totalled a record £836 million in November, beating the previous record by over £30 million (£805 million, August 2022).

In total, £3.27 billion in cash was deposited and withdrawn over the counter at Post
Offices in November, compared with £3.26 billion in October.

New figures today (12) reveal a fall in cash deposits at Post Offices in November but record levels of cash withdrawals as people continue to turn to cash in order to budget over Winter.

Personal and business cash deposits totaled £2.4 billion in November, overall a 2 per cent fall month-on-month (£2.45 billion, October 2022). Personal cash deposits accounted for £1.29 billion, a 4.4 per cent fall on October (£1.35 billion) and down on September, when personal cash deposits totalled £1.43 billion.

November 2022 was the first time since the start of the year (January and February 2022)
that personal cash deposits had fallen for two successive months.

November traditionally sees large increases in business cash deposits as the hospitality and
leisure sectors take advantage of the run-up to Christmas, but business cash deposits only
grew 0.8% month-on-month totalling £1.11 billion in November (£1.1 billion, October 2022).

Post Office has attributed the fall in cash deposits to newly introduced deposit limits that the banks have set as part of a tightening of money laundering controls. This has resulted in limits on the amount of cash that can be deposited over the counter at Post Offices.

Martin Kearsley, Banking Director at Post Office, said: “Many businesses rely on cash takings in order to survive, as do their customers. Overzealous limits imposed on the amount they are able to deposit will almost certainly result in more businesses simply no longer being able to accept cash.

“This will impact their ability to trade successfully and impacts the millions of people who rely on cash as their only means to pay for goods and services. We are working with the industry and others to encourage changes to these implementations so that businesses across the country can continue to deposit their cash takings at their local Post Office without worrying about limits set by their bank.”

Personal cash withdrawals totalled a record £836 million in November. This exceeded the
previous record by over £30 million (£805 million, August 2022). Personal cash withdrawals in November were up 7.6 per cent month-on-month and 12.5 per cent year-on-year.

The increase in personal cash withdrawals coincides with the Post Office’s renewed
partnership with the Trussell Trust. From November, Post Office will again donate 1p from
every cash withdrawal and hopes to raise £330,000 for the charity over the winter. In
addition, Post Offices are also providing energy relief payments, winter fuel payments and
cost of living payments in cash on behalf of the Government and local councils to vulnerable people.

Martin Kearsley added: “Millions of people continue to visit their local Post Office to withdraw cash in order to budget and Postmasters are playing a vital role in helping people, particularly those on low incomes, navigate this Winter.

“In addition to cash deposit and withdrawal services, Postmasters are processing tens of thousands of Energy Bill Support Scheme discounts for prepaid meter customers every week.”