APWU calls on US Postmaster General to “make postal banking a reality”

The American Postal Workers Union (APWU) has called on the US Postmaster General Megan Brennan to “make postal banking a reality now”. The APWU is backing the Campaign for Postal Banking, which claims that postal banking would both “strengthen” the US Postal Service (USPS), by establishing a new source of revenue, and also help the “28% of U.S. households [who] are underserved by traditional banks and turn instead to payday lenders, check cashers and other financial predators”.

“The more than 30,000 branches of the US Postal Service can provide affordable, non-profit, consumer-driven financial services ranging from paycheck cashing and bill payment to savings accounts and small dollar loans,” the Campaign for Postal Banking has argued.

While the USPS already provides some limited financial services, the Campaign would like to see it go much further. Examples of the initiatives it would like see include:  installing surcharge-free ATMs at USPS branches; expanding services to include payroll check cashing; and providing bill paying and electronic fund transfers.

The Campaign for Postal Banking has launched an online petition, which both the APWU and Senator Bernie Sanders, one of the Democratic candidates for the US presidency, are supporting.