Introducing: Cash deposits at the Post Office

In 2018, it was a groundbreaking moment when we introduced cash deposits at the Post Office. This article tells that story. Since then, Starling has gone from strength to strength. We've left this post up to mark a moment we're proud of and explain how our partnership with the Post Office works. 

How far is your nearest bank? And what about your nearest Post Office? Chances are you’ll be living much closer to a Post Office than a bank branch, especially following the closures of 2,900 bank branches in the last three years, which left 1,500 communities without a bank.

The good news is that 99.7% of us live within three miles of a Post Office. The even better news is that you can now deposit cash into your Starling account at any one of the Post Office’s 11,500 branches nationwide.

Cash deposits for mobile banking

Our world is now more digital than ever, especially when it comes to banking, but we know that having the option to deposit cash into your bank account is important for a lot of our customers and businesses. That’s why we’ve become the first mobile bank to partner with the Post Office.

If you’ve got one of our portrait debit cards - teal for personal, navy for business - you’ll be able to deposit cash into your account at any Post Office branch. If you don’t have a new card, get in touch with Customer Service to ask for one. We’ll be sending out new navy cards to all our business customers with purple cards in the next few days so that you can use the cash deposit service.

Personal and joint customers can deposit £1,000 each calendar year free of charge at the Post Office. For all deposits greater than this, we will charge you a fee of 0.7% of the amount over £1,000 that you deposit.

If you have a business or a sole trader account, there is a 0.7% charge on each cash deposit, with a minimum charge of £3.

Withdrawing cash at the Post Office counter is free for personal or joint accounts and 50p for business accounts (though you could use a Post Office ATM which won’t charge you). There’s a daily withdrawal limit of £300 for all customers.

Post Office branches

We want to connect more people to faster, simpler banking across all corners of the UK. When it comes to paying in cash, the Post Office is an ideal solution - there are more branches of the Post Office than all high street bank branches combined. The Post Office has also committed to keeping their branches open. Since 2010, the number of bank branches has fallen by 35% while the number of Post Office branches has only fallen by 1%.

“Within a five mile radius, there have been at least three banks close this year,” says Ben Daly, 29, who set up his own company, BRD Roofing, in South Wales and Bristol six years ago. “Being able to deposit cash through the Post Office will make things much easier for me.”

Supporting British business

Up and down the country there are brilliant businesses that we want to support through providing a better banking experience. Here at Starling, we want you to spend time growing your business, not chasing up invoices or queuing in a bank branch.

Kecia McDougall worked as a nurse practitioner in the NHS for more than 20 years before starting her own business in 2017. Never.25 is a spirit made with fruit, created by Kecia, 53, and her daughter Mary, 23, in Tayport in Scotland.

As for all small businesses, one of their biggest challenges is time management. “With the business still beginning to walk and only having two employees, myself and my daughter - running a full-time distillery, online shop, marketing, developing new products and then the paperwork on top means that there’s a lot to do,” she says. Kecia sells bottles through the website, local shops and at trade shows, where they are often paid in cash.

So what does she need from her bank? “Reliable and efficient banking. Most banks forget that when you’re running a business you don’t have time to drive miles to a bank branch, park and wait in a queue to deposit money. The bank has cash machines where you can deposit cash but they rarely work so you get stuck in the queue and it can be an hour to an hour and half out of my day, every week,” says Kecia, who has found that the queues have been longer since the closures of other local bank branches. “It’s not convenient and as things are progressing, we need something that moves with the times.”

With five Post Offices all within a short drive of her business, banking with Starling saves her the trips she was making to her nearest bank branch.

Combining the convenience of smartphone technology with the extensive network of Post Office branches creates a bank account that fully supports you in managing your money quickly and easily – both for business and personal banking.

Extended opening hours

For many of us, our working days extend well past the 9am to 5pm opening hours of high street banks. In 2015, more than 2,000 Post Office branches extended their opening hours, adding up to an extra 60,000 opening hours per week for customers across the country.

During the busy parts of the year, Ben leaves home at 5.45am and finishes at 5pm to pick up his little boy from nursery, while Kecia can be in the distillery finalising batches until midnight. Unlike her local bank branch which closes at 5.30pm during the week and is closed on Sundays, one of her local Post Office branches is open until 10pm all week. Find out the opening times of your local Post Office branch through our branch finder.

Article updated:  23 February 2024