Imagine that. Swing by the Post Office and do your banking. Deposits, not by mail, though you could from home or the Postal box down at the corner. But actually do your banking when you send the kids a care package. A really great idea with no downsides.
“No, too new, too radical”, some naysayers say. But wait. They’re doing it all over the world. In crazy places like Great Britain, Japan, Germany, Israel, and Brazil. Seems to work for them. Why not for us? Wait, we once did it here, from 1910 until 1966 you could do savings through the post office, in many dozens of locations across the country where there were few banks and always a post office. The creation of the FDIC eliminated the natural advantages post office saving banks held against private banks back then.
So, imagine this. Small business micro-lending in communities banks, maybe tied to the SBA, the biggies won’t touch with a ten foot pole. Pay-day loans with non-userious, obscene interest rates. Yes, to put these predatory lenders, financed by the biggies, out of business. Checking with modest, fair fees, electronic transfers including to foreign countries for immigrants. ATM’s with reasonable fees. Savings accounts. Hey, and how about student loans and fair and reasonable rates?
Just go crazy thinking up banking services you aren’t getting now from the mega-bank chains, at least at a fair and reasonable price. Especially in communities, both urban and rural, where there are few or no banks.
And maybe these services and the expertise are contracted through local, community banks by the USPS, not the mega-chains. This would give them and the USPS fresh cash flow and new outlets they might not be able to finance. From brick and mortar already up and running.
Senator Warren, thank you for creative thinking outside the box. And thank you for thinking about the people at the grassroots. Senators Carper and Coons, will you get on board and get imaginative with her?