Resolution: Establishing a Postal Bank
WHEREAS, the U. S. Post Office operated the Postal Savings System from 1911 through 1967, and at its peak, had $4.3 billion in deposits;
WHEREAS, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the Postal Service issued a “white paper” that said the Postal Service should provide basic financial services to the 68 million American adults who don’t have bank accounts or who have limited access to bank services;
WHEREAS, the OIG report exposed the extent of the “legal loan sharks” who prey upon the underserved by trapping them in a cycle of payday loans and check cashing fees and interest that cost families an average of $2400 per year when their entire annual family income averages just $25,000;
WHEREAS, certain segments of the population are disproportionately underserved, including black and Hispanic households throughout the country, but mostly in the South and in inner cities;
WHEREAS, the OIG stated that the Postal Service could generate $8.9 billion per year in new revenue by providing services to the underserved, while at the same time protecting good paying jobs;
WHEREAS, with more than 35,000 post offices, stations and branches located in every city, and town in America, the Postal Service has the infrastructure to provide the desperately-needed services;
WHEREAS, thirty-five percent of USPS retail offices are in “bank deserts” – zip codes with no banks; another 21 percent of zip codes serve communities with just one bank.
WHEREAS, the Postal Service is consistently rated one of the most trusted institutions and when it comes to privacy, the Postal Service is ranked as the most trusted company in the United States;
WHEREAS, the OIG has stated that the Postal Service has legal authority to get started; therefore be it
Resolved that the CBTU, along with its allies, embark on a campaign to educate the American people to the advantages of a non-profit Postal bank and mobilize popular support for a Postal Bank to pressure Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe to initiate financial services immediately, as the first step in establishing a full-fledged non-profit Postal Bank.
