The Post Office have exceeded £2.9 billion cash deposits and withdrawals during October.

The Post Office saw the highest amount of personal cash withdrawals all year in October with over £692 million taken out over the counter, increased by 1% compared to September, and up almost 18% on last year.

A recent Post Office survey found 44% of small hospitality and leisure businesses in the UK rely on cash daily.

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A third (34%) of hospitality and leisure business owners said they would fear for the security of their business if they didn’t have the ability to deposit cash at the end of each day.

Martin Kearsley, banking director at 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.

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“October saw another strong month across our network in supporting customers and businesses to deposit and withdraw cash conveniently and securely. Postmasters are keeping their branches open long hours, playing an essential role in the cash ecosystem in their community.”

The Post Office recently launched a ‘Save Our Cash’ campaign calling for the Government to speed up legislation to protect access to cash for the millions of people and businesses that rely on it.

The Post Office is calling on as many people as possible to write to their MP to support policies and legislation that protect cash and place an obligation on the banks to guarantee access to cash across the UK.

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