Postal banking coming back?

The Vindicator - Postal banking used to be widespread. Now it could be coming back.

New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand recently announced a bill to reintroduce the practice, aiming to put the post offices scattered throughout the country for a broader use: providing banking to the unbanked. The bill would allow postal banks to make loans of up to $1,000 at low interest rates, cash people’s paychecks free of charge, and provide other basic services such as checking accounts.

The idea, long touted by progressive senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and many local activists, would give millions of Americans a service long excluded from their communities. It’s “a solution to take on payday lenders, to take on the problems that the unbanked have all across the country,” Gillibrand has said.

It would also tackle the banking industry writ large.

Big banks often refuse to open branches in poor or minority areas, and the few banks still around shutter thanks to industry consolidation and online banking. None of this is due to a lack of profits or money – banks are saving billions thanks to the Republican tax reform. Instead, it’s a larger, conscious choice by these banks.