Post Office cash transactions hit record £3.7bn in July

Post offices handled a record amount of cash in July, with transactions totalling £3.77 billion.

July was the first time cash transactions have exceeded £3.7 billion, the Post Office said.

The new record month is £200 million higher than a previous record high set in May 2024, when a total of £3.57 billion-worth of transactions was recorded.

Business cash deposits topped £1.2 billion in a single month for the first time, at £1.24 billion, a total which was up by 10% month-on-month and by 9% annually.

Personal cash deposits surpassed £1.5 billion in a single month for the first time, at £1.58 billion, which was up 11% month on month and by 18% annually.

Our figures indicate that demand for cash is as strong as ever

And personal cash withdrawals totalled £917 million in July, up 8% month-on-month and up 12% annually.

The Post Office also recorded a jump in cash withdrawals coinciding with the major IT outage involving cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike.

Withdrawals were up by 13% on Friday July 19 (£42.8 million) compared with a year earlier (Friday July 21 2023, at £37.9 million).

The Post Office also said that the return to summer weather in July helped contribute to the record cash handling month.

The Post Office has an agreement with many banks, enabling customers to do their everyday banking over its counters.

Ross Borkett, banking director at Post Office, said: “Our figures indicate that demand for cash is as strong as ever as people rely on cash to budget and businesses rely on it to survive a volatile trading environment.

“Postmasters and their teams play a vital role in supporting small businesses to trade by providing a convenient and secure location to deposit their cash takings with many branches open long hours and some at weekends.

“We are pleased that the Financial Conduct Authority have recently published new access-to-cash regulations to give both consumers and businesses more certainty around the future of cash.”