Financial Regulation News
Republican senators denounce USPS pilot program to expand into banking
By Dave Kovaleski
U.S. Sen. John Boozman (R-AR) is among a group of Senators that have expressed concern about a pilot program from the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to implement banking services, including check-cashing.
Boozman and 18 of his Senate colleagues sent a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, saying the pilot program is not under the USPS’s purview and would threaten mail delivery. USPS launched its postal banking pilot program in September.
“We are concerned that the pilot program exceeds the Postal Service’s legal authority and fails to comply with relevant regulations and procedural requirements,” Boozman and the other Senators wrote in the letter.
The letter was signed by U.S. Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH), Pat Toomey (R-PA), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), John Barrasso (R-WY), Mike Braun (R-IN), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Steve Daines (R-MT), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), John Kennedy (R-LA), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-KS), Jim Risch (R-ID), Tim Scott (R-SC), John Thune (R-SD), and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL).
The USPS has lost more than $75 billion from 2007-2019.
“Given that these losses occurred during a period of time in which the Postal Service was exclusively focused on mail delivery, it would be imprudent to shift attention and resources toward an area in which the agency lacks expertise. It is essential that the Postal Service address this revenue shortfall by focusing on fixing inefficiencies with its mail delivery system, not pivoting to financial products and offerings with which the agency has no expertise,” the senators wrote.