JJ_BPK
04-01-2021, 07:35
Should the USPS get into banking?
preface:
The UK (1880 c ref #1) and other countries have had this for some time.
If you discount the ACLU Wokness, it is true that the US is moving from physical banks to online banking.
I, personally, have not entered a bank in 30 years? and have not had an account at a bank (IBM Federal Credit Union) for some 20 years.
Two scenarios
1)USPS rents space to banks, makes a few shekels and the needs are met.
2)USPS gets into banking whole hog
The first I can buy into, 2 not on my watch.
Opine... :munchin
ACLU: Why We Need the Post Office to Close the Racial Wealth Gap
Roughly 50 percent of Black families do not have access to affordable financial services. The post office can close that gap.
Across America, banks are disappearing, leaving behind their most vulnerable customers, many of whom are Black and low-income. Since 2013, more than 11,000 additional bank branches have shuttered. And the trend is only accelerating. Some analysts expect as many as 20,000 additional branch closures in the immediate aftermath of the COVID pandemic. Branches in majority-Black areas, in particular, were roughly 50 percent more likely to close than those in the rest of America. As a result, 63 percent of majority-Black census tracts do not have an active bank branch; 17 percent of Black Americans are unbanked; and 30 percent of Black Americans are underbanked.
With bank branches closing at an accelerating rate, we can expect the number of unbanked Americans to grow, particularly Black Americans, as well as the fees they pay. Black consumers, like low-income consumers generally, are prime candidates to be exploited by the payday loan industry. “The average unbanked family with an annual income of around $25,000 will spend about $2,400 per year, almost 10 percent of its income, on financial transactions,” writes Mehrsa Baradaran in How the Other Half Banks. “This is more than these families spend on food.” Over the course of a 30-year working career, being unbanked can cost the median Black family more than $86,000 in fees, representing twice their annual income.
But America is not without recourse. We believe postal banking provides a cure to what ails our most vulnerable communities. According to the Postal Service’s Office of the Inspector General, the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act authorizes the agency to expand beyond money orders to other affordable services, including payroll check cashing, domestic money transfers, and bill payment. This is not a new or radical idea. A Pew survey from 2014 found that 81 percent of people who placed money orders stated that they would cash their checks at the Post Office; 79 percent would pay their bills; 71 percent would access small dollar loans; and 59 percent would utilize a reloadable prepaid card.
https://www.aclu.org/news/racial-justice/why-we-need-the-post-office-to-close-the-racial-wealth-gap/?initms_aff=nat&initms_chan=soc&utm_medium=soc&initms=210323_systemicequality_blog_fb&utm_source=fb&utm_campaign=systemicequality&utm_content=210323_racialjustice_blog&ms_aff=nat&ms_chan=soc&ms=210323_systemicequality_blog_fb&utm_term=pm-6233005794995-6235030747995
ref#1: UK postal banking started 1880 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postal_savings_system
PS: My daughter works for Accenture in the UK and one of her clients is the UK Postal system, including the posted banking. Like myself, she does not "bank" anymore, but says the convenience of popping into the post office f0r the odd money order and cash, is very convenient.
:munchin
preface:
The UK (1880 c ref #1) and other countries have had this for some time.
If you discount the ACLU Wokness, it is true that the US is moving from physical banks to online banking.
I, personally, have not entered a bank in 30 years? and have not had an account at a bank (IBM Federal Credit Union) for some 20 years.
Two scenarios
1)USPS rents space to banks, makes a few shekels and the needs are met.
2)USPS gets into banking whole hog
The first I can buy into, 2 not on my watch.
Opine... :munchin
ACLU: Why We Need the Post Office to Close the Racial Wealth Gap
Roughly 50 percent of Black families do not have access to affordable financial services. The post office can close that gap.
Across America, banks are disappearing, leaving behind their most vulnerable customers, many of whom are Black and low-income. Since 2013, more than 11,000 additional bank branches have shuttered. And the trend is only accelerating. Some analysts expect as many as 20,000 additional branch closures in the immediate aftermath of the COVID pandemic. Branches in majority-Black areas, in particular, were roughly 50 percent more likely to close than those in the rest of America. As a result, 63 percent of majority-Black census tracts do not have an active bank branch; 17 percent of Black Americans are unbanked; and 30 percent of Black Americans are underbanked.
With bank branches closing at an accelerating rate, we can expect the number of unbanked Americans to grow, particularly Black Americans, as well as the fees they pay. Black consumers, like low-income consumers generally, are prime candidates to be exploited by the payday loan industry. “The average unbanked family with an annual income of around $25,000 will spend about $2,400 per year, almost 10 percent of its income, on financial transactions,” writes Mehrsa Baradaran in How the Other Half Banks. “This is more than these families spend on food.” Over the course of a 30-year working career, being unbanked can cost the median Black family more than $86,000 in fees, representing twice their annual income.
But America is not without recourse. We believe postal banking provides a cure to what ails our most vulnerable communities. According to the Postal Service’s Office of the Inspector General, the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act authorizes the agency to expand beyond money orders to other affordable services, including payroll check cashing, domestic money transfers, and bill payment. This is not a new or radical idea. A Pew survey from 2014 found that 81 percent of people who placed money orders stated that they would cash their checks at the Post Office; 79 percent would pay their bills; 71 percent would access small dollar loans; and 59 percent would utilize a reloadable prepaid card.
https://www.aclu.org/news/racial-justice/why-we-need-the-post-office-to-close-the-racial-wealth-gap/?initms_aff=nat&initms_chan=soc&utm_medium=soc&initms=210323_systemicequality_blog_fb&utm_source=fb&utm_campaign=systemicequality&utm_content=210323_racialjustice_blog&ms_aff=nat&ms_chan=soc&ms=210323_systemicequality_blog_fb&utm_term=pm-6233005794995-6235030747995
ref#1: UK postal banking started 1880 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postal_savings_system
PS: My daughter works for Accenture in the UK and one of her clients is the UK Postal system, including the posted banking. Like myself, she does not "bank" anymore, but says the convenience of popping into the post office f0r the odd money order and cash, is very convenient.
:munchin