Outgoing Postmaster General: Job Of USPS Is Delivering The Mail, Not Being A Bank

(Missive Maven)

While retiring Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe is on his way out, that doesn’t mean he’s not about to weigh in on the idea of the United States Postal Service acting like a bank. Offering basic financial services has been suggested as a way to help the USPS get some much needed cash, but Donahoe is having none of it.

Some have said the USPS could branch out into banking, a tack that Donahoe is opposed to, to say the least.

“Our role is delivery,” not making financial services available, he told reporters, according to the Associated Press.

It’s not like a bank came in and put the idea forward anyway — the proposal came from within the office of inspector general in the USPS itself. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of the Senate Banking Committe is backing the idea, as proponents say services like selling prepaid debit cards, check cashing or saving accounts could bring in some revenue for the USPS.

Donahoe leaves office Feb. 1 after almost 40 years working for the USPS. He issued a parting plea to Congress to throw the USPS a bone and give it “the additional flexibility it needs to deal with some of our bigger structural issues.”

Departing postmaster general slams banking duties proposal [Associated Press]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist