Your Friendly Neighborhood Post Office...and Bank?
November 18, 2015
Did you know that almost 28% of U.S. households are underserved by traditional banks?
That's a huge number of people with no place to turn, forcing them to use payday lenders, check cashers, and other shady financial institutions. Those services rake in $103 billion each year in fees and outrageous interest rates by preying on working families.
There is a potential solution, though, and it might not be what you expect: the U.S. Postal Service (USPS).
The Postal Service is a well-trusted public institution with more than 30,000 branches around the country, serving millions of customers each year. They already offer some financial services, like the purchase of money orders. But if we install fee-free ATMs in each branch, expand postal services to more communities, and provide bill paying and fund transfers to postal service customers, we could guarantee working people access to financial services without the fees and fine print of Wall Street.
Best yet, it would support thousands of union jobs at postal facilities in communities all across America.
