Warnings of Scheme to 'Kill Postal Banking' With ATMs in Post Offices
August 21, 2020
The plan, revealed in an internal USPS document, is getting slammed as yet
another Wall Street power-grab.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon delivers a speech at the Fortune Global Forum
in San Francisco. (Fortune Global Forum/Flickr/cc)
By Jake Johnson
Common Dreams
JPMorgan Chase, the largest financial institution in the United States, is
reportedly in talks with the U.S. Postal Service about a proposal to set up
ATMs in post offices in several states across the country-a plan critics
warned is an effort to eliminate the possibility of a public postal banking
system.
Capitol Forum reported Wednesday that the Postal Service - currently headed
by Louis DeJoy, a Republican megadonor to President Donald Trump - is
"considering a proposal from JPMorgan Chase (JPM) to offer banking services
in post offices in a move that could give the Wall Street giant an exclusive
right to solicit postal customers."
A recent internal USPS planning document obtained by Capitol Forum says "the
Postal Service is in discussions with JPMorgan Chase concerning a potential
limited pilot test of ATM and other banking services located on Postal
Service premises in several states." One anonymous source told Capitol Forum
that the pilot would involve the Wall Street giant "leasing space from the
Postal Service."
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), the top Democrat on the Senate Banking
Committee and author of postal banking legislation, slammed the reported
plan as yet another destructive Wall Street power-grab.
"What JPMorgan Chase wants to do looks like another attempt for big banks
and corporations to privatize our public infrastructure so their
shareholders gain while working families suffer," Brown told the New York
Times, which confirmed Capitol Forum's reporting on the talks between USPS
and JPMorgan Chase.
Times reporter Emily Flitter noted that big banks have long been fervently
opposed to the idea of a USPS-provided banking system. "If JPMorgan had ATMs
and other facilities in post offices, it could make it harder for postal
banking to become a reality," Flitter tweeted Wednesday. "Banks oppose the
idea of postal banking because it would represent another source of
competition for them."
David Dayen, executive editor of The American Prospect, warned that the plan
being explored by JPMorgan Chase and the USPS "would be no more than a
rental of ATM space in exchange for the elimination of a potential rival
before it gets going."
"This wouldn't expand services for the unbanked, wouldn't change the terms
that put big bank financial services out of reach for poorer people," said
Dayen. "It's designed just to stop postal banking from being offered with an
exclusivity agreement. It's more an antitrust violation than a deal."
News of the talks between Wall Street and the USPS comes as DeJoy is facing
massive public backlash over changes to mail operations that postal workers
believe are designed to pave the way for privatization of the most popular
government institution in the country. On Tuesday, DeJoy vowed to suspend -
but not reverse - his policy changes until after the November election.
Economist Robert Reich tweeted Wednesday that "a people's post office would
offer banking services to compete with JPMorgan and the other big Wall
Street (too-big-to-fail) banks, now ripping off Americans with exorbitant
fees."
"Instead," Reich wrote, "USPS is now considering partnering with JPMorgan to
set up its banks inside post offices."
This article is from Common Dreams.