A really brilliant idea is Bernie Sanders’ plan for a postal-banking system. It would help so many people in crucial ways, and it’s not like anybody can reasonably object to it. Except for the owners of those horrible, shady payday loan places.
Postal Banking
Clarissa's Blog 
The USPS does exactly one thing very well: delivering first-class mail reliably at the lowest price in the world. But I’ve learned from practical experience that sending a package via fourth-class mail (parcels, books, other large material) is like sending it on a suicide mission. Do you really want the USPS (or any other government agency) handling your money?
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If the alternative is a payday loanshark? Is this seriously a question?
This is simply about letting people choose. If they still choose payday loans, that’s their right.
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No. 🙂
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Banque de la Poste or Wonga?
Certainly there has to be another choice, such as joining a credit union or a building society …
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In my area for example, there are not that many credit unions. This matters because there are not that many ATMs that are accepted by the credit unions, and those that aren’t charge whopping fees, so you get hit with fees from your institution and the institution that owns the ATM.
The repeal of portions of Glass-Steagall in the 1990s led to a whole bunch of bank mergers, thus reducing choice.
Fun with anagrams: “Amscot” (a payday loan place) anagrams to “to scam”
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In your city, how many credit unions or building societies are there, in contrast to how many post office branches? People with limited transportation options need banking they can get to. Also, there are lots of poor people in rural areas, and every town has a post office; don’t think they all have credit unions and building societies.
And while anecdote is not data, the credit union I belong to is as difficult to deal with as any bank.
Postal banking is not an original idea but it is a good one.
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As Driedel admits, it is a silly question, Do we want a government agency handling our money? Without government there would be no money as we understand it. What chaos there would be!
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