A BANK YOU CAN TRUST

Bernie Sanders makes the case for banking at post offices 

Bernie has sponsored legislation to let the Postal Service find innovative new ways to shore up its finances. Sanders proposed that the U.S. Postal Service offer banking services—“postal banking”—which was provided until 1967.

Simply put, the Post Office would offer basic banking services to customers—like low-interest savings accounts, debit cards and even some simple types of loans. The USPS already takes in more than $100 million in revenue each year by selling postal money orders.

“One of the ways that I think we can help not only the U.S. Postal Service, but help a lot of low-income people—if you are a low-income person, it is, depending upon where you live, very difficult to find normal banking. Banks don’t want you,” Bernie continued, “And what people are forced to do is go to payday lenders who charge outrageously high interest rates. You go to check-cashing places, which rip you off. And, yes, I think that the postal service, in fact, can play an important role in providing modest types of banking service to folks who need it.”

An estimated 68 million people live in “bank deserts,” areas without access to financial services. The banks don’t want to serve these people because they’re mostly poor, leaving them to be gouged by check-cashing shops and payday lenders.

Postal banking could save low-income families thousands of dollars per year, AND provide a new revenue stream for the Post Office.