The Alternative: Postal Banking

Experts have advocated for postal banking, which would essentially turn the US Postal Service into a place that would also offer basic banking services like checking accounts, savings accounts, and payments. The idea is that it would reach and serve as an option for the unbanked and offer lower-cost options for transactions than private banks, such as low-fee ATMs and check cashing. 

Postal banking has been proposed on Capitol Hill, but thus far, it hasn’t gotten very far legislatively.