Post Office Cash Deposits Falling

Cash deposits in decline as deposit limits start to take effect 

Post Office Ltd (PO) has recorded that cash deposits at post offices have fallen 2% month-on-month following the new bank deposits that have been recommended by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). However, record levels of cash withdrawals have been reported, as many people turn to cash to help with budgeting over winter.  

In November, PO announced that post offices handled £2.4 billion in personal and business cash deposits, which was a 2% drop from £2.45bn in October.  

At a time of year when business cash deposits should see a significant increase, they have only grown by 0.8% month-on-month. This highlights the significant impact that the FCA’s cash deposit limits are having on the post office network, as well as on legitimate personal and business customers. This limits overall access to cash as more and more bank branches close, leaving customers with fewer places to deposit their cash.  

In contrast (and with only a slight increase in business cash deposits and personal cash) withdrawals totalled a record £836m in November beating the previous record set in August, £3.26m by over £30m increase.  

The total amount of cash that was deposited and withdrawn over the counter in November was £3.27bn compared with £3.26bn in October.  

Deposit limits imposed by the FCA are a threat to the network which the UK can ill afford as according to data released by PO last week, post offices contribute £5bn a year to the UK economy. 

Visit the PO website for the full data HERE.  

Support our #Loveyourlocalpostoffice campaign against banking deposit limits, you can find a toolkit on our website HERE.