The New Economy Glossary

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Postal Banking

The USPS provided basic banking services from 1911 until the late 1960s. While private banks focused on businesses and affluent customers and redlined people of color, working people often lacked bank accounts. The USPS stepped in to serve as a nondiscriminatory alternative, providing inclusionary access to savings accounts and low-cost money orders. Today, 9 million households are handicapped by not having a bank account, and bank branches are disappearing rapidly, especially in poor urban and rural areas. It is time for the Post Office to step in again and restart this critical public service. Source: Public Banking Institute

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