Personal cash deposits and withdrawals at post offices dip

Personal cash deposits and withdrawals at post offices were higher in April than a year earlier but dipped compared with the previous month.

There were £750 million of personal cash withdrawals in April, up by 27% from £590 million in April 2021, the Post Office said.

But withdrawals were down by 3.7% compared with March when the figure was £779 million.

Personal cash deposits totalled £1.26 billion in April, up 17% from £1.07 billion in April 2021.

The latest figure was lower than the £1.31 billion recorded in March.

Business cash deposits were up compared with the previous month and April 2021.

Despite the drop in personal cash deposits and withdrawals, the Post Office said April was the second month in a row it had handled more than £3 billion in cash.

Firms made £1.10 billion of cash deposits in April compared with £1.09 billion in March. In April 2021 the figure was £769 million.

The Post Office has an agreement with many banks that enables people to do their day-to-day banking over its counters.

It has been calling for legislation to be unveiled in the Queen’s Speech on Tuesday to protect free access to cash, and launched a “save our cash” campaign last year.

In the first four months of 2022, £12 billion was deposited and withdrawn at post offices, with millions of people relying on cash every day to budget, it said.

The Government has previously said it plans to legislate to protect the future of cash.

Martin Kearsley, banking director at the Post Office, said: “The ability to use cash to budget daily, weekly, monthly, is a fundamental way of life for millions of people across the country.

“This is a difficult period for people with rising bills. People can always withdraw the amount of cash that they need to the penny at any of our 11,500 post offices.”