The Government must protect access to cash, says Post Office, after branches handle GBP3bn in April

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The Queen’s Speech will address how plans first outlined by the Government in 2020 to ‘protect access to cash’ are progressing

The Post Office has urged the Government to take urgent action to protect the nation’s right to access cash freely, after it handled a near-record amount of coins and notes in branches this April.

It comes as today’s Queen’s Speech will address how plans first outlined by the Government in 2020 to “protect access to cash” are progressing.

The Post Office’s 11,500 sites handled £3.14bn in cash transactions during the month of April, nearly as much as the £3.2bn handled in March and continuing a recovery in the use of cash since lockdown measures were lifted.

According to the Post Office Cash Tracker, cash withdrawals totalled £750m in April, up b y 27 per cent year-on-year, but down by 3.7 per cent on March’s levels.

Personal cash deposits stood at £1.26bn for April, up 17 per cent year-on-year.

The Post Office says the figures demonstrate “how vital cash is for millions of people to survive”, and has urged the Government to take urgent action to protect the public’s access to cash.

Last year, the Post Office launched a “Save Our Cash” campaign to highlight the importance of cash for many people, particularly the elderly and vulnerable.


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

“The Government must, and we would welcome, an announcement in the Queen’s Speech to protect the use and acceptance of cash, providing reassurance for people and businesses across the country who rely on cash to survive.

“Postmasters handling over £3bn in cash for the second consecutive month demonstrates just how vital being able to deposit and withdraw cash, securely and conveniently, is for millions of people.”

It echoes calls made by consumer champion Which? last month, after the consumer group warned the Government that any further inaction could lead to the collapse of the UK’s cash system.

Which? said almost a quarter of free-to-use ATMs have vanished since 2018 and almost half of the UK’s bank branches have closed since 2015.

A recent report from the Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) found that millions of people would be left unable to engage with the digital economy if there was a complete shift to a cashless society.