Members of the Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives have long argued that proposals for postal banking fundamentally misunderstand the case of the unbanked. Yet, the proposals pushed forward, and a pilot program was launched in September.
What are the results so far? Over the past two months, no one has chosen to use the service at the Bronx location, according to postal employees.
If a full‐scale postal banking program is to be launched, Congress itself would need to enact legislation. Therefore, the pilot program was only launched in four locations across Baltimore, Maryland; the Bronx, New York; Falls Church, Virginia; and Washington, D.C. The program allows customers to transfer business and payroll checks up to $500 to gift cards for a flat fee of $5.95.