100 years ago, the United States Post Office Department (forerunner of the USPS) operated small neighborhood banks that allowed people who had no confidence in banks to make deposits and withdrawals.
An Act of Congress on June 25, 1910, established a postal savings system in post offices effective January 1, 1911. Many Americans had money stuffed in their mattresses, and European immigrants were used to banking at post offices in their native countries. The program began slowly, but grew after 1929 as confidence in banks ebbed. At its peak in 1947, $3.5 was on deposit. Annual interest was 2%.
Then the big banks stepped in and offered the same protection (FDIC) that the
post office banks had, and US Savings Bonds yielded much higher interest rates. The program stopped accepting new depositors in 1966, and was eventually closed out completely in 1985.
That program could be reestablished and expanded today and include the following conditions and parameters:
1) Each post office would be chartered as a bank in each state.
2) The USPS could borrow money from the Federal Reserve at zero percent interest.
3) They could make personal and small business loans up to $100,000 and charge interest of 5 percent on the loans, with no fees or points.
4) Depositors could be paid 3 percent interest on their savings accounts.
5) USPS banks could offer free checking and ATM service.
With about 30,000 unemployed banking personnel, there would be no shortage of workers for the new USPS banks. People unhappy with Bank of America, Citibank, and all the other greedy banksters would have a real choice, and the big banks would have competition for the first time.
New construction could start at the USPS banks, and the extra revenue would go directly to the USPS, guaranteeing its long-term survival.
Write to your congresscritter.