A postal reform bill that passed Congress this week could offer another opportunity to install a postal banking system in the United States, according to a review by the Prospect.
While the $107 billion in savings from ending the Postal Service’s prefunding of retirement benefits and moving postal retirees onto Medicare has received most of the headlines, Section 103 of the bill, subsection 3704, restates USPS authority to partner to “provide property and nonpostal services” to federal government agencies, as long as whatever results raises revenue for the Postal Service.
This would appear to supersede one aspect of a ban on non-postal products from the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, and could pave the way to providing services that mirror a bank account for any American who wants one.
Another exception to that 2006 ban comes in subsection 3703 of Section 103, which allows the Postal Service to partner with state or local governments to again provide property or non-postal services. Just like the other provision, this would have to be a revenue-positive partnership for the USPS, but that would be the entire point, to open new revenue streams in an age of declining letter mail.