In July, something big did happen: the greatest cash handling ever at the Post Office. Deposits and withdrawals above £3.7 billion were registered with its branches alone. The amount is the biggest amount ever recorded, beating all other records for previous months, including May, April, and December.

This is the rise in cash handling at a time when bank branches continue to shut their doors with unrelenting ferocity: more than 6,000 bank branches since 2015 alone-meaning about 50 every month. Accordingly, with so many banks disappearing, more people are turning to the Post Office for their needs.

New banking hubs are opening in response, with about 70 in operation and 100 by Christmas. They should offer similar services to banks, meaning helping people with cash transactions, depositing for small businesses among others.

However, these new hubs and the Post Office can only offer basic banking services. They cannot replace the full range of services which bank branches offered before closures began to take place. So the most this new hub can do is not make too many changes in the prevalence of bank closures.

Mairi Wingate, Barton-upon-Humber Post Office postmistress for 19 years, said many people preferred using cash. She added that some customers come in to withdraw small amounts of money-like £10 for a local hairdresser-while others may take out £300 or £400 for their weekly shopping and bills. Cash has helped people to budget better because they can see how much money they have in front of them and are less likely to overspend.

Mairi draws attention to the fact that it is the method by which so many people can count their spending and stay within a budget. With cash, people can be somewhat concrete about where they stand and avoid the possibility of over-spending. It is for this reason that the Post Office is still so busy despite the increasing number of bank closures.

The scandal surrounding the Horizon IT a few years ago gave the Post Office a serious knock. A computer system wrongly accused hundreds of postmasters and postmistresses of stealing money. It remains nonetheless a very popular place for people to do their banking: some 10 million people use branches every week, a service crucial to many.

John, a regular customer at Post Office, claimed that he was a lover of using cash rather than cards. Almost every week, he said he visited Post Office to draw some cash from his bank account. “£50 I’ve taken out to go shopping with, like I have done for the last 50 years. Cash is still king in my book,” John says. He adds that though he had cards, he hardly used them. John believes that cash helps him to keep a better track of his expenditures: “You can flash a card around without really knowing what you’re doing. Cash in the pocket, though, you know where you are,” he explains.

John’s experience epitomizes that of many people in thinking that with cash, they are in control of their finances. To others, it keeps them within the bounds of a budget and does not tempt them to overspend.

In general, record cash handling by the Post Office last July showed that many relied on it for their everyday needs. Even while bank branches continue to close, the Post Office remains a lifeline of the community, providing a local solution for people who need to handle their money. The new openings of banking hubs move in the right direction, but for the time being, the Post Office is of great importance in allowing people to manage their finances and stick to budgets.

In all, this shows that more people are turning to the Post Office for cash transactions due to a general trend of desire for reliable and familiar ways to handle money. Through all the bank closures and past scandals, the Post Office has remained an indispensable and trusted service for many.