The United States Postal Service has a serious dilemma: How can it survive in the age of email, online banking and a very competitive shipping industry?
The Post Office recently raised the price of a first-class stamp to $0.49 from $0.46 but three extra pennies to send a letter in the mail will have little effect on helping the agency turn a profit. The postal service trimmed its loses in the first quarter of its fiscal year yet the agency still posted a $354 million loss. Total mail volume in the quarter, which ended Dec. 31, fell to 42 billion pieces, down from 43.5 billion in the same period a year ago. The Post Office has lost money in 19 of the last 21 quarters.
Money-saving strategies like ending Saturday mail delivery was rejected by Congress; other major financial decisions that the USPS wants to make are tied to a dysfunctional federal government that cannot agree on much these days.
How about this: allowing the Postal Service, which has branches in many low-income neighborhoods, to offer traditional and non-traditional banking services? That was the recommendation of the U.S. Postal Service Inspector General, who outlined such a proposal in a recent white paper.
Congress, mainly the Republicans are against offering assistance, passing any laws that would allow the USPS to make the necessary moves to remain viable. They won’t say they want to kill the USPS, privatize it. But by continually doing nothing that’s exactly what there doing. It reminds me of the movie ‘The Lemon Tree.’ In that interesting movie a Palestinian woman had a groove of lemon trees. The Israeli government said that her groove was in a militarized area. Rather than tear it down they left her in limbo, cut off her water while the politicians and judges debated it. It’s not hard to figure out what happens then. This is the same, they tie up every bill to assist the USPS all the while the financial losses mount.
A plan to offer banking services to low income neighborhoods is a sound idea. These impoverished persons are being taken advantage of by pay day lenders and other high interest financial firms.