Northern Ireland’s first enhanced Post Office opens in Holywood offering new local cash services to support consumers and businesses

Holywood in County Down has become the first community in Northern Ireland to welcome new cash services in the town’s local Post Office.

Alongside traditional services offered by the Post Office, residents and businesses visiting the town’s location on High Street will now find a dedicated priority counter service, providing faster access to banking services for customers. These will support individuals and small businesses, offering a more private space to carry out transactions and less queuing time. The service, initially being piloted, is the first in Northern Ireland and is part of a wider change to protect access to cash in communities across the UK.

The enhancement has been delivered, in partnership with the Post Office, by Cash Access UK a new not-for-profit company established by 10 major high street banks to protect access to cash services.

The new services in Holywood follow a recommendation by LINK, the UK’s cash machine and cash access network, that additional services should be introduced to support consumers and businesses.

Gareth Oakley, chief executive, Cash Access UK, said: “We know cash use is declining, however, not everyone is comfortable using contactless cards or shopping online. We’re pleased to be working with the banking industry and to be delivering new solutions on the high street. In future, towns across Northern Ireland will see changes within their community, which may mean a Banking Hub, an enhanced Post Office service or another form of new cash service. Holywood is the first, but by no means the last.”

Ross Borkett, head of banking at Post Office, continued: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with Cash Access UK to deliver the first enhanced Post Office services in Northern Ireland, further providing customers of Holywood with access to cash services. Post Offices are integral to the survival of many small and medium enterprises. Over £1 billion in cash is deposited over the counter every month by businesses across the UK and we are acutely aware that small business owners need to minimise time away from their business so they can continue selling their goods and services. We look forward to working with Cash Access UK and seeing the continued rollout of enhanced banking services across our network.”

The enhancement also comes ahead of the forthcoming opening of a new Banking Hub in Kilkeel, which will be located at 47 Greencastle Street. Banking hubs offer a counter service run by the Post Office, where customers of all major banks and building societies can withdraw and deposit cash and carry out regular banking transactions. It will also offer a community banker service where customers can talk to their own banking provider about more complicated issues, Monday to Friday, 9am - 5pm. Community Bankers will work on rotation, with a different bank or building society available on each day of the week:

Monday – Barclays

Tuesday – Ulster Bank

Wednesday – Santander

Thursday – Bank of Ireland UK

Friday – Danske Bank

Finding a suitable location is a significant step forward and the team at Cash Access UK are now working hard to secure planning consents and get the new premises ready. They will update the community on progress and an opening date as soon as they can.

In 2020, the village of Millisle in County Down was chosen as a location as part of the Community Access to Cash Pilots. For over a year, residents and local businesses participated in a unique trial to understand ways that local cash access could be protected, as more consumers use alternatives to cash and businesses struggled to access deposit services.

Chris Hazzard, South Down MP, added: “This is welcome progress in bringing vital cash and banking services to the community of Kilkeel. I look forward to the Hub’s opening.”