Postal banking won’t deliver: letter

While increasing financial inclusion and improving U.S. Postal Service financial stability are worthy goals, postal banking would accomplish neither, Pennsylvania Association of Community Bankers President and CEO Kevin L. Shivers wrote.

Response: In a letter to the editor responding to a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial endorsing postal banking proposals, Shivers said:

• The postal service’s footprint is small compared to financial institutions.
• Its poor financial condition leaves it ill-equipped to handle financial services.
• It would involve a too-big-to-fail institution and displace community banks.

Alternatives: Instead, policymakers could more successfully expand access to financial services by supporting de novo formation, Minority Depository Institutions, and rural lending, Shivers wrote.

ICBA Position: ICBA has consistently opposed postal banking, including in an open letter to Congress earlier this year.