Post Office Banking Agreement Renewed

The Post Office has renewed its agreement with the UK’s largest banks and building societies that will see it continue to offer cash services to customers for the next three years.

Negotiations had been underway for the last few months, with concerns that if an agreement wasn’t reached, millions of customers would struggle to access cash.

Majority Of Customers Covered

The agreement runs from January 2023 — when the latest deal would have expired — until at least December 2025. It has been struck with 30 of the biggest banks and building societies in the country.

The biggest bank not to sign up is Monzo. Monzo has its own agreement with PayPoint, which lets customers pay cash into their accounts at over 28,000 convenience stores around the country.

For comparison, there are 11,500 branches of the Post Office where customers of the other major banks can withdraw and deposit funds, and while they generally have longer opening hours than bank branches, convenience stores tend to be open even longer. Only 4,000 Post Office branches open at the weekend, many of which are Saturday morning-only.

Crucial Cash In Face Of Closures

The deal was seen as absolutely crucial following the many bank branch closures over the last two years. Many banks have justified their decisions to close certain branches because of the deal with the Post Office, pointing out how customers could access cash services at a Post Office nearby, rather than travelling further afield to another bank branch.

Indeed, almost 98% of the UK population live within three miles of a Post Office, with a significant number of those within just one mile.

With Which? claiming that almost half the UK’s bank branches have closed in the UK since 2015, many smaller communities rely on their Post Office for cash withdrawals and deposits. Often the only alternative is an ATM that includes charges, as the number of free-to-use ATMs has also reduced.

This agreement provides a continued lifeline to the millions of people and small businesses that rely on cash nationwide. It highlights the unique and vital role that the country’s Post Offices play in local communities and economies.

While banks are cutting their branch networks, Post Offices are seeing more and more deposits and withdrawals with Postmasters keeping their branches open long hours and helping to draw people to our high streets.

Nick Read, chief executive at the Post Office