The USPS considers offering banking services

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

Unfortunately for all the GOP fucktards and Yi Marketeers that want to privatize the entire operation by optioning it out to shareholder-driven companies, along with the added bonus of shitcanning Federal employees--omg, with pensions to boot!--it's in the Constitution.

The Constitution says, "The Congress shall have power ... To establish Post Offices and post Roads;".  Nothing in the Constitution requires them to do so.  Certainly nothing in the Constitution requires the Federal Government to own a postal service; in fact, in the early days the opinion of the courts was that the government could *not* own postal property, merely designate roads and sites for postal use.  The current state of the USPS is purely created by an act of Congress acting under that clause, and can be changed under that clause in any way Congress sees fit, including the dissolution of the USPS and the end of the First Class Mail monopoly.

[Monoriu]

If banks don't want these customers, what makes the post office think that they can do better than the banks and profit from the same customers?

[DontSayBanana]

If banks don't want these customers, what makes the post office think that they can do better than the banks and profit from the same customers?

Depends on whether the banks don't want the customers because they're not making money or if they're not making enough money.  The bigger money would be in investing services, and that market's not likely to be tapped in a really poor area.

[CountDeMoney]

Unfortunately for all the GOP fucktards and Yi Marketeers that want to privatize the entire operation by optioning it out to shareholder-driven companies, along with the added bonus of shitcanning Federal employees--omg, with pensions to boot!--it's in the Constitution.

The Constitution says, "The Congress shall have power ... To establish Post Offices and post Roads;".  Nothing in the Constitution requires them to do so.  Certainly nothing in the Constitution requires the Federal Government to own a postal service; in fact, in the early days the opinion of the courts was that the government could *not* own postal property, merely designate roads and sites for postal use.  The current state of the USPS is purely created by an act of Congress acting under that clause, and can be changed under that clause in any way Congress sees fit, including the dissolution of the USPS and the end of the First Class Mail monopoly.

The same thing could be said about our court system and the Judiciary Acts.  But nobody's going to touch them, either.

So fuck all you Post Office haters.  Good luck trying to remove the Postal Clause.

[Admiral Yi]

Does nobody write bad checks where you live?  Because in 2007, my office was entering 20,000 bad checks a night into a certain financial institution's "bad check writer" database, and we weren't the only office working that account.

Plenty of people write bad personal checks.  Virtually no one writes a bad payroll check, which is the only kind check cashing places take.

[Admiral Yi]

If banks don't want these customers, what makes the post office think that they can do better than the banks and profit from the same customers?

They'd be looking to break even, for one thing.

[CountDeMoney]

Plenty of people write bad personal checks.  Virtually no one writes a bad payroll check, which is the only kind check cashing places take.

In Baltimore, most of the check cashing places that are run by the Greeks or Jews charge a flat 5% service fee, unless they're one of those Korean-owned combo liquor/check cashing joints, and then it's around 7%.

[DontSayBanana]

Plenty of people write bad personal checks.  Virtually no one writes a bad payroll check, which is the only kind check cashing places take.

In Baltimore, most of the check cashing places that are run by the Greeks or Jews charge a flat 5% service fee, unless they're one of those Korean-owned combo liquor/check cashing joints, and then it's around 7%.

Was that a misquote?  Because that didn't say anything about the sources those Baltimore check-cashing places will take.

Anyway, Yi, probably half of the bad checks I entered were DBAs, which are registered in that book the check-cashing places pull out to verify.  Doctors were the worst offenders, but I put in a lot of stuff reading "John Smith DBA John's Towing" or suchlike.  Long story short, bad checks from business accounts happen a lot more than you might realize.

And some of those were even honest mistakes!  Best common example I can think of is a franchisee with poor bookkeeping running in the red.  They're legit, they frequently employ exactly the kind of ultra-low-income employee that would gravitate toward check cashing, and their payroll checks do bounce from time to time.

[CountDeMoney]

Was that a misquote?  Because that didn't say anything about the sources those Baltimore check-cashing places will take.

Why would I misquote myself?

[sbr]

In my 28 years of various employment I have never had a payroll check bounce, or not been paid exactly on payday.

[Ed Anger]

Fuck the post office. Fuckers won't stop talking to the old people in front of me.

[dps]

Does nobody write bad checks where you live?  Because in 2007, my office was entering 20,000 bad checks a night into a certain financial institution's "bad check writer" database, and we weren't the only office working that account.

Plenty of people write bad personal checks.  Virtually no one writes a bad payroll check, which is the only kind check cashing places take.

Is that the only kind the Post Office would take if this plan goes into affect?

[CountDeMoney]

In my 28 years of various employment I have never had a payroll check bounce, or not been paid exactly on payday.

The very last bail company I worked for, my boss had developed a nasty coke + $500/hr GFE escort habit, and the ensuing nasty divorce;  I'd have to wait as long as Tuesday to deposit Friday's paycheck sometimes, he was even bouncing the premium checks to the bond insurance company.

When he suddenly wanted to get me personally insured under a $250,000 essential personnel small business policy, that's when I knew I was going to be murdered in the office one evening in the very near future, and felt it was prudent to tender my resignation.

[DontSayBanana]

The very last bail company I worked for, my boss had developed a nasty coke + $500/hr GFE escort habit, and the ensuing nasty divorce;  I'd have to wait as long as Tuesday to deposit Friday's paycheck sometimes, he was even bouncing the premium checks to the bond insurance company.

When he suddenly wanted to get me personally insured under a $250,000 essential personnel small business policy, that's when I knew I was going to be murdered in the office one evening in the very near future, and felt it was prudent to tender my resignation.

Yep.  Ironically, the company I was just talking about that tracked financial misbehavior folded when the CEO managed to go on a month-long hookers and blow binge that cost $83 mil of our VC.

[Grey Fox]

I like that idea.