U.S. Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) are sponsoring legislation that would create banking services through the post office.
The Postal Banking Act would establish a nonprofit bank offering low-cost checking and savings accounts, ATMs, mobile banking, and low-interest loans,
“As our economy rebounds from the pandemic, it is essential that every American has access to financially safe and reliable banking services,” Gillibrand said. “However, more than 46 million Americans are not having their needs met by our current banking system and often fall prey to predatory lenders who take advantage of them with high fees and interest rates. The Postal Banking Act is a simple solution to a complex problem—it would offer basic financial services at post offices in both rural and urban communities while simultaneously generating nearly $19 billion per year for the USPS. Put simply: postal banking delivers.”
Gillibrand also released a report — called “Postal Banking: Delivering for The American People,” – which lays out thee and other statistics related to the underbanked and how postal banking could be beneficial for many people.
“It is absolutely unacceptable that nearly 50 million people in this country are unbanked or underbanked,” Sanders said. “What does that mean? That means millions of working people across this country are unable to access basic banking and financial services. That means that working people across this country are forced to face unnecessary barriers to important moments, such as buying a house, starting a business, or saving to send their children to college. That means that working people across this country are too often forced to rely on predatory lenders. This must change. The time has come to put exploitative loan sharks out of business and guarantee affordable banking options to all Americans through the United States Postal Service.”
The legislation – which had also been introduced in the last Congress — has been endorsed by Alliance for Retired Americans, American Family Voices, Center for Popular Democracy, Color of Change, Family Farm Defenders, Farm Aid, Indivisible, Mainers for Accountable Leadership, MoveOn, NETWORK Lobby Catholics for Social Justice, Our Revolution, and Paragon Florida.
“All Americans deserve access to affordable banking and financial services. Postal Banking is a critical tool in providing access to the financial system to all Americans. We applaud all members of Congress who, like Senator Gillibrand and Senator Sanders, are working together to find solutions to this problem,” American Postal Workers Union President Mark Dimondstein said.