Post office see huge surge in cash withdrawals: 'Physical currency is vital!'

The Bank of England figures recently showed that households withdrew a record £4.6 billion from banks and building societies in May.

The figure is the highest since the Bank’s monthly records started in October 1997.

Some financial experts suggest the jump is a sign that households have been dipping into savings to help with cost of living crisis.

In June, the Post Office said that the total value of personal and business cash withdrawals and deposits was £3.35 billion – the highest level since last September.

Martin Kearsley, PostOffice banking director, said: “Postmasters continuing to handle well over £3 billion each month demonstrates just how vital being able to deposit and withdraw cash securely and conveniently is for millions of people.

“These figures clearly show that Britain is anything but a cashless society and people are reliant on cash as the tried-and-tested way to manage a budget.”

Post Office has partnerships with over 30 banks, building societies and credit unions meaning that 99 per cent of UK bank customers can access their accounts at their Post Office branch.

It comes after GB News launched the Don't Kill Cash campaign which has now received more than 190,000 signatures.

We are calling on the Government to introduce legislation committing to protect the status of cash as legal tender and as a widely accepted means of payment in the UK until at least 2050.

Names and faces from across Britain have given their support to the campaign, with politicians cross-party endorsing GB News.

Supporters include RMT union leader Mick Lynch who gave his backing to the petition.

GB News' Economics and Business Editor Liam Halligan explained that people "are sick and tired that they can't use cash anymore".

He said: "It costs businesses money to handle cash and if we're losing a lot less cash then that means there's more so-called surveillance capitalism where the banks can follow your patterns of expenditure, internet companies can follow your patterns of expenditure and of course that data can be sold to third party companies who are interested in marketing."