The Postal Service is defending a nearly yearlong check-cashing pilot, despite a quiet rollout and a lack of customers.
USPS attorneys told the Postal Regulatory Commission, in a filing last week, that allowing customers to purchase single-use gift cards worth up to $500, using a business or payroll checks as payment, doesn’t count as the agency branching out into new, non-postal services, as restricted by the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act.
USPS charges a flat fee of $5.95, won’t accept checks larger than $500 and won’t disburse cash for any checks. Four post office locations are currently participating in the pilot in Washington; Baltimore; Falls Church, Virginia, and the Bronx, New York.
USPS said the check-cashing pilot simply allows for a new form of payment for gift cards it’s been selling for more than a decade, along with greeting cards and stationery the agency has been permitted to sell.
USPS is opening themselves up to check fraud and will causes losses and extra work for postal inspectors, this is a self inflicted wound.