Nearly half the UK public (48%) use in-person banking at least once a month, and almost seven in ten (68%) want to keep access close to home, new Post Office research has found, underlining how millions of people and small businesses still rely on face-to-face services even as high street bank branches close.

The research found a wide range of everyday moments during which people still want to deal with someone in person, from a recently bereaved customer closing a loved one’s account, to a shopkeeper banking the day’s takings, to someone querying in person whether a suspicious payment request is a scam.

The research found a wider range of demographics regularly opting to bank in person than expected:

• SMEs rely heavily on in-person services for day-to-day operational needs
• Younger adults (over half of 18-24 year-olds (62%) have opened a bank account in person in the last two years and 58% say that being able to do so in person is important to them)
• Higher earners (more than half of people (54%) earning over £75,000 a year have opened a new bank account in-person in the last two years)

In-person banking is valued for both simple and complex transactions and high-risk needs. People and businesses polled expressed safety and security concerns as a key reason to opt for physical over digital banking: three in five people (60%) want to be able to report a scam or fraud in person, while nearly three in five (59%) want to get help with payment issues in person. This need has become more important as

financial fraud targeting individuals and businesses becomes more complex, smarter, and more widespread, increasingly enabled by AI. Many people and SMEs already turn to their local Post Office as bank branches close. One in three people (33%) say they would struggle to access their finances without it. Many of the cash and banking services highlighted in the research are already available at 10,000 post office branches across the UK. However, the research shows strong demand for this to be extended, with half (50%) of UK adults saying they would like to see a larger range of banking services at their local post office.

Neil Brocklehurst, Post Office CEO, said: “We often hear about a digital-led future for banking, but safe and convenient in-person banking remains a fundamental need for people and businesses. We have established a foundation for this access through collaboration between Post Office and the banking industry with the Banking Framework and delivery of banking hubs. The question now is how we build on that progress. As this new research highlights, there is an emerging challenge around access to a broader range of in-person banking services.”

The Government’s recently launched Access to Banking Services Review is an opportunity for a coordinated response across Government and industry to protect in-person banking services as high street bank branch numbers continue to drop. Neil Brocklehurst added: “The Government’s Access to Banking Services Review is a chance to build on what we’ve learned about collaboration across industry,

making best use of existing infrastructure, and designing services around how people actually live and work today. As a trusted high street presence with strong national infrastructure, Post Office has a clear role to play in this, and our research shows us that the public back us playing a greater role, in partnership with banks and Government.”