LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s Post Office, which offers banking services as well as mail, handled a record £801 million ($967 million) in personal cash withdrawals in July.
In total, more than £3.3 billion in cash was withdrawn and deposited over the Post Office’s counters — the first time the amount has crossed the £3.3 billion threshold in its 360-year history.
Personal cash withdrawals were up almost 8% month on month at £744 in June, and up over 20% from a year ago to £665 million in July.
The spike in cash use is down to several factors.
“Firstly, more people use cash when they go on staycation, secondly, the Post Office helped to hand out support to energy customers in the form of cash, and thirdly, people are using it as a budgeting method,” said Laura Suter, head of finance at AJ Bell.
The Post Office research found that 71% of Brits planning to go on holiday in the UK this year intend to take out cash before doing so. Of those who have holidayed in the UK in the last five years, almost a third admitted to being caught out by not having cash on them.
In July, the Post Office processed more than 600,000 cash payouts for people eligible for energy bill support from the British government.