Post Office

If you have old Christmas stamps you CAN continue to use them after 31 January 2023 following a Royal Mail U-turn. The postal service had initially announced, as part of a wider shake-up, that Christmas stamps would be replaced by new barcoded versions from 31 January 2023. This would have rendered old festive stamps useless unless swapped.

Customers of the majority of the UK's biggest banks and building societies will be able to continue to use Post Office counters for basic banking until at least the end of 2025, as part of a new agreement announced today (Monday 31 January), making life easier for those who rely on cash.

Facebook has launched a paid-for postal service for its Marketplace, which matches buyers and sellers on a range of items. While the service is free for now, the buyer or seller pays a delivery charge plus the seller faces a 2% fee of total costs. But users can avoid these fees by continuing to arrange delivery or collection themselves.  

Starling Bank current account holders who want to deposit more than £1,000 in cash in any one calendar year will be charged to do so via the Post Office from March 2022. Customers will, however, continue to be able to deposit money electronically or by cheque fee-free. 

Shoppers will be able to pick-up DPD delivered parcels from 250 Post Office branches across the UK from next week, it's been announced.  

A pilot scheme in eight towns across the UK will test new ways to boost access to cash in local communities – with measures including local shops offering cashback, new 'bank hubs' in Post Offices and more free ATMs. And while it's a small-scale trial at the moment, if successful these measures could be rolled out more widely in future. 

Almost a third of free-to-use ATMs at Post Office branches will be shut over the next 18 months, with around 600 set to close by March 2022.

The Post Office has announced that it will be raising the price of some call plans and landline calls in November, with some customers facing increases of up to £42/year.

The Post Office is to close its online shop at the end of the month, meaning you'll need to go to one of its branches in person to buy its products – but if you want to buy stamps online, there are still plenty of other options.

Vulnerable Post Office customers who need to shield during the coronavirus pandemic can now have cash payments delivered straight to their homes as part of a new scheme.