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I could not imagine the amount of financial, operational, technological and regulatory infrastructure that would need to be ported over, however.

toomuchtodo 7y ago
We have the US Digital Service [1] and 18F [2]. We (US citizens) should demand Congress to provide them the authority to deliver the modernization required to implement such infrastructure. Use Login.gov [3] to provide for digital identity management of these accounts. Perform in person KYC using USPS and DHS/CBP branches, and identity proofing online using traditional service providers (IRS already does this for your IRS account, SSA might, I haven't checked recently). The path to success is straightforward. EDIT: So I did some digging, and it appears that the US Treasury has partnered with Comerica Bank in Texas to provide this sort of service to Social Security benefit recipients [4] (because the Treasury requires electronic payment of social security benefits, and you can't leave seniors unbanked). The challenge is going to be to find Congressional reps supportive of bringing this functionality in house, which isn't unreasonable IMHO, to provide this as a utility to all US citizens. I have already fired off a FOIA request to get details on the contract between Treasury and Comerica. [1] https://www.usds.gov/ https://www.usds.gov/ | [2] https://18f.gsa.gov/ https://18f.gsa.gov/ | [3] https://login.gov/ https://login.gov/ [4] https://www.usdirectexpress.com/ https://www.usdirectexpress.com/
- basch 7y ago
  Would it be feasable for the government to acquire a mobile first bank and graft it onto the post office? Either chime, bankmobile, moven, or simple. Is it a space the government wants to compete against Apple and Google? If every mobile phone in the country comes with a free integrated banking service, how do you compete? Would the government better serve by using its resources to regulate interoperability and compatibility, and rule following, than by competing? I totally get why a free post office bank would do great things to serve the underbanked. But if the government is going to get into banking, id like to see it go a step further, more like Singapore, and be some kind of new HSA type account offering, a forced savings account that can be used to pay rent and more.
  - monocasa 7y ago
    It's not politically feasible. The Republicans have been trying to kill off the USPS for decades now, and would torpedo any effort to expand it's scope in a way that that the USPS might be competent at.
    - toomuchtodo 7y ago
      Right, you need more reps who support protecting and expanding public goods like the USPS, regardless of political affiliation.
Etheryte 7y ago
I think the problem really isn't as complicated as that list might make it seem. In my home country (EU), local shops offer basic banking services (withdraw, deposit money) in rural areas where banks have no incentive to have a branch. They're already integrated into the wider cash flow system, money is moved to and from the locations securely regularly, etc. Postal offices would tick all those boxes as well with the additional contextual benefit of being government-run.
Spooky23 7y ago
It's not that hard. Just assume control of some bankrupt bank or even contract out the backend, and put terminals in post offices. When Bank of America merged with a few others, they actually operated several of the old banks at once for awhile. Medicare uses the latter model for claims processing -- big insurance companies bid on processing, subrogation, etc.
specialist 7y ago
Not commercial banks. Above examples are just passbook (personal) savings and misc services. Super simple. Though I'd be open minded towards some overlap with credit unions.
grecy 7y ago
There are plenty of comments in this very thread that give examples of many other countries already doing it, including countries that have way lower GDP/Person than the US. Are you saying the US is incapable of doing what is already being done in many other countries?
- thephyber 7y ago
  > Are you saying the US is incapable of doing what is already being done in many other countries? "Incapable" assumes lots of things, but practically speaking the number of things that we (the USA) "are capable of doing" is shrinking and using GDP/Person is an interesting way to illustrate the point. We are overpaying for services that other countries have managed to solve for reasonable costs. University tuition, healthcare, building infrastructure are all ridiculously expensive in the USA, so our higher GDP/Person is largely wasted compared to most other OECD countries. Our government and the crooked ethical guidelines of our companies/organizations are why this overpricing started and continues to exist. For those tasks which require regulatory/legal changes, the USA is swimming in peanut butter. What we "are capable of doing" largely has to do with our Legislature+Executive branches ability to find ways to make productive changes (rare) without sabotaging those same efforts (even rarer). But half of those people are rowing in one direction (team red) and the other half in another (team blue). The USA's primary policy tool is "make the most visible spectacle of brinksmanship" and has been for 10+ years. The people/companies in the USA are capable of feature parity with just about any other country's people/companies, but that assumes that our government either doesn't get in the way or their government doesn't assist them.

toomuchtodo 7y ago

We have the US Digital Service [1] and 18F [2]. We (US citizens) should demand Congress to provide them the authority to deliver the modernization required to implement such infrastructure. Use Login.gov [3] to provide for digital identity management of these accounts. Perform in person KYC using USPS and DHS/CBP branches, and identity proofing online using traditional service providers (IRS already does this for your IRS account, SSA might, I haven't checked recently). The path to success is straightforward. EDIT: So I did some digging, and it appears that the US Treasury has partnered with Comerica Bank in Texas to provide this sort of service to Social Security benefit recipients [4] (because the Treasury requires electronic payment of social security benefits, and you can't leave seniors unbanked). The challenge is going to be to find Congressional reps supportive of bringing this functionality in house, which isn't unreasonable IMHO, to provide this as a utility to all US citizens. I have already fired off a FOIA request to get details on the contract between Treasury and Comerica. [1] https://www.usds.gov/ https://www.usds.gov/ | [2] https://18f.gsa.gov/ https://18f.gsa.gov/ | [3] https://login.gov/ https://login.gov/ [4] https://www.usdirectexpress.com/ https://www.usdirectexpress.com/

basch 7y ago
Would it be feasable for the government to acquire a mobile first bank and graft it onto the post office? Either chime, bankmobile, moven, or simple. Is it a space the government wants to compete against Apple and Google? If every mobile phone in the country comes with a free integrated banking service, how do you compete? Would the government better serve by using its resources to regulate interoperability and compatibility, and rule following, than by competing? I totally get why a free post office bank would do great things to serve the underbanked. But if the government is going to get into banking, id like to see it go a step further, more like Singapore, and be some kind of new HSA type account offering, a forced savings account that can be used to pay rent and more.
- monocasa 7y ago
  It's not politically feasible. The Republicans have been trying to kill off the USPS for decades now, and would torpedo any effort to expand it's scope in a way that that the USPS might be competent at.
  - toomuchtodo 7y ago
    Right, you need more reps who support protecting and expanding public goods like the USPS, regardless of political affiliation.

Etheryte 7y ago

I think the problem really isn't as complicated as that list might make it seem. In my home country (EU), local shops offer basic banking services (withdraw, deposit money) in rural areas where banks have no incentive to have a branch. They're already integrated into the wider cash flow system, money is moved to and from the locations securely regularly, etc. Postal offices would tick all those boxes as well with the additional contextual benefit of being government-run.

Spooky23 7y ago

It's not that hard. Just assume control of some bankrupt bank or even contract out the backend, and put terminals in post offices. When Bank of America merged with a few others, they actually operated several of the old banks at once for awhile. Medicare uses the latter model for claims processing -- big insurance companies bid on processing, subrogation, etc.

specialist 7y ago

Not commercial banks. Above examples are just passbook (personal) savings and misc services. Super simple. Though I'd be open minded towards some overlap with credit unions.

grecy 7y ago

There are plenty of comments in this very thread that give examples of many other countries already doing it, including countries that have way lower GDP/Person than the US. Are you saying the US is incapable of doing what is already being done in many other countries?

thephyber 7y ago
> Are you saying the US is incapable of doing what is already being done in many other countries? "Incapable" assumes lots of things, but practically speaking the number of things that we (the USA) "are capable of doing" is shrinking and using GDP/Person is an interesting way to illustrate the point. We are overpaying for services that other countries have managed to solve for reasonable costs. University tuition, healthcare, building infrastructure are all ridiculously expensive in the USA, so our higher GDP/Person is largely wasted compared to most other OECD countries. Our government and the crooked ethical guidelines of our companies/organizations are why this overpricing started and continues to exist. For those tasks which require regulatory/legal changes, the USA is swimming in peanut butter. What we "are capable of doing" largely has to do with our Legislature+Executive branches ability to find ways to make productive changes (rare) without sabotaging those same efforts (even rarer). But half of those people are rowing in one direction (team red) and the other half in another (team blue). The USA's primary policy tool is "make the most visible spectacle of brinksmanship" and has been for 10+ years. The people/companies in the USA are capable of feature parity with just about any other country's people/companies, but that assumes that our government either doesn't get in the way or their government doesn't assist them.