Post Office

You will still be able to use non-barcoded 'everyday stamps' after 31 January for another six months, MoneySavingExpert.com can confirm. The deadline to use these stamps is 31 July. This is despite a series of misleading adverts from Royal Mail saying otherwise. 

You've now got less than six months to use any non-barcoded everyday stamps – those with the Queen's profile on – before they become worthless. Alternatively, you can swap them for barcoded versions for free through the Royal Mail scheme. We take you through what you need to know below.

Royal Mail's 'Swap Out' scheme opens today (Thursday 31 March), meaning you can now exchange first and second class stamps – plus others with the Queen's profile on – for new, barcoded versions. We break down everything you need to know below.

Time to check down the back of your sofas for any soon-to-be-discontinued paper £20 and £50 notes, as the latest figures from the Bank of England show there are £17.6 billion's worth still floating around. But be quick, as there are only a few months left before they become invalid.

Royal Mail has warned households in 23 locations across the UK that they could face delays to letter and parcel deliveries in the run up to Christmas, largely due to staff contracting Covid-19. 

Lloyds Banking Group has announced another round of branch closures, with a further 60 being shut across the UK. The closures are made up of 24 Lloyds branches, 19 from Bank of Scotland and 17 from Halifax.

Certain Post Office savings accounts will no longer accept payments into them from 1 March 2022 unless they're from a linked current account (or if they're via cheque or cash). MoneySavingExpert.com has learnt that 150,000 Post Office savers still need to set-up a linked account before the deadline. 

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.

Standard stamp prices are to rise by up to 12%, Royal Mail has confirmed. From Monday 4 April, the cost of 1st class stamps will be hiked to 95p (up 10p), while 2nd class stamps will increase to 68p (up 2p).

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.