On Friday, December 22, post offices recorded a record number of individual cash withdrawals in a single day, according to the association.
As many prepared cash gifts for Christmas Day and did last-minute shopping, it was reported that £62 million was taken out.
It surpassed the record high of £51.5 million set on Friday, December 23, over the counter.
The agency has noted in the past that during the cost of living crises, cash assists people with daily budgeting.
In the meantime, individuals with personal accounts took out £800,000 in cash on Christmas Day and deposited over a million pounds.
The Post Office reported that business clients had deposited slightly over £1 million over the counter.
“For some people, being able to withdraw cash for free helped them finish last-minute shopping for the big day, for others it may have been a last-minute gift,” stated Ross Borkett, head of banking at the Post Office.
“Business cash deposits being made on Christmas Day indicate just how vital it is that pub and restaurant owners have somewhere open and convenient to deposit their much-needed Christmas cash takings ahead of a quieter January” , said Borkett.
The last Friday before Christmas was the busiest day of the year for withdrawals, with the highest single-day total since before the pandemic, according to Link, the largest cash machine network in the UK.
Prior to a four-day vacation, about £460 million was taken out on Friday, December 22, the last working day before Christmas for many.
According to Link, the average withdrawal amount on that particular day was little less than £105.
“With many travelling over the Christmas weekend, people visited ATMs to stock up and to undoubtedly use it to give as presents,” Link’s strategic director, Graham Mott, stated.
Approximately £3.3 billion in cash is handled by the Post Office each month. It claimed to have recorded the most number of individual cash withdrawals of the year in November.
The firm has previously disclosed that more people are managing their budgets with cash, frequently on a daily basis, as a result of the growing cost of living.
It also previously emphasized that, particularly in areas where bank branches have closed, firms in the leisure and hospitality industries depended on its branches to deposit cash. In the UK, there are around 11,500 branches.
Return of cash?
Retailers revealed in September that sales using cash grew for the first time in ten years, with more money being spent with notes and coins last year.
According to the British Retail Consortium, last year’s percentage of purchases made using cash and coins increased from 15% to 19%. It claimed that as prices rise, consumers are becoming more frugal with their spending, which has contributed to the increase.
The financial impact of rising prices was highlighted at the same time by UK Finance, a trade body for banks, which claimed that cash use had increased for the first time in ten years.
However, it stated that once the current financial crunch had subsided, it anticipated a drop in the use of cash during the ensuing years.
In an effort to preserve access to cash, the UK’s financial watchdog has suggested new regulations that would require free withdrawals and deposits to be made within one mile for residents of metropolitan regions and three miles for residents of rural areas.
