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The USPS does a great deal wrong. I doubt they would succeed. Their only real advantage is that they already are required to have and staff the locations. While some banks are losing money, USPS wouldn't have to factor in the cost of locations that they are already forced to own for their postal service.
OMG. The USPS is one of the most poorly managed and operated entities around. I can't imagine allowing them to manage banking on top of their currently mismanaged and unprofitable ventures.
When I'm at WalMart, I see people standing in line at Customer Service cashing their paychecks and getting a bunch of money orders to pay all their bills.
A LOT of people don't use regular banks for a variety of reasons. These were the people the government was trying to help back in 1910 and I think these are the same people they're talking about now. I remember reading something (regarding the old post office bank) about wanting to get people to get that money out from under their mattresses and get it deposited so the bank would have use of the float (if I'm explaining that correctly.) I wonder if this is pretty much the same thing.
I don't know about JP Morgan Chase, but Wells Fargo is doing quite well financially. I'd assume they're closing retail outlets because so many people--like me--do all their banking online and rarely visit a branch. Increasing their online and customer service people would be cheaper than maintaining a brick-and-morter.
Many that I see I am pretty sure are illegals or those working under the table not declaring the income.
If JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo, the two most financially successful banks in the US, are closing retail outlets because they are a money-losing venture, how do you expect the USPS to make this work?
JPM and Wells certainly have access to capital markets at the lowest rates you can get them (the Fed, 0.75%) and offer next to no interest in a savings account, and that spread is too tight for them to make retail banking work without heavy doses of automation (ATMs or online accounts)
They already, and will continue, to have the buildings either way?
If JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo, the two most financially successful banks in the US, are closing retail outlets because they are a money-losing venture, how do you expect the USPS to make this work?
Quote:
Originally Posted by cb73
I don't know about JP Morgan Chase, but Wells Fargo is doing quite well financially. I'd assume they're closing retail outlets because so many people--like me--do all their banking online and rarely visit a branch. Increasing their online and customer service people would be cheaper than maintaining a brick-and-morter.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stratford, Ct. Resident
I can't speak for other areas of the country, but here in CT, Chase is regularly opening new branches. For many years now, there have been 2 Chase branches that are within a quarter of a mile of each other in my town.
In the portion of the Los Angeles basin where I live, bank branches are EVERYWHERE. The big four seem to be Wells, BofA, Chase, and Citi, but there are plenty of others most of you probably never heard of. It is really incredible and I don't pretend to understand it. If you were to draw a four-mile radius circle around my house, I'll bet there would be 30 or 40 bank branches. And I haven't noticed any closing either.
Normally if an outfit or a business is losing money, one might conclude that it is poorly run. However, I submit that the same reasoning cannot necessarily be applied to the postal service. They geared up for efficiency and mechanization to handle the large volumes of mail they were delivering and then the bottom fell out of their volume as people gradually started communicating by email rather than by letters and at the same time started paying most of their bills via electronic bill pay instead of sending checks through the mail. How many people even send Christmas cards anymore? (Yes, some do, but that practice is dying.)
Yet the USPS has its hands tied by Congress and they cannot respond in rational ways to the decrease in their volume. They wanted to cut out Saturday delivery but were not allowed to. While they have closed a few smaller branches, they cannot close more because people complain to their Congress critters about not having one close to them.
Most people are idiots who want to have their cake and eat it too. Ergo, a postal service which is losing gobs of money.
Normally if an outfit or a business is losing money, one might conclude that it is poorly run. However, I submit that the same reasoning cannot necessarily be applied to the postal service. They geared up for efficiency and mechanization to handle the large volumes of mail they were delivering and then the bottom fell out of their volume as people gradually started communicating by email rather than by letters and at the same time started paying most of their bills via electronic bill pay instead of sending checks through the mail. How many people even send Christmas cards anymore? (Yes, some do, but that practice is dying.)
Yet the USPS has its hands tied by Congress and they cannot respond in rational ways to the decrease in their volume. They wanted to cut out Saturday delivery but were not allowed to. While they have closed a few smaller branches, they cannot close more because people complain to their Congress critters about not having one close to them.
Most people are idiots who want to have their cake and eat it too. Ergo, a postal service which is losing gobs of money.
Thank you.
I'm an American citizen that spends most of my time overseas. When I am home, I use the time to "catch up" on shopping (variety & price offered in the US is rare even in the more developed foreign markets). Most of my shopping is online, and I do a not inconsiderable eBay trade.
The USPS is quite good. Most (if not all) of its problems can be traced back to political interference from parochially provincial politicians. On the one hand, this benefits us as end users. Using the USPS versus another shipper saves me quite a bundle. I can ship, or have shipped to me, a package internationally for a fraction (around 25%) of the cost of using UPS or Fedex. When I've sold on ebay, all parcels have reached the buyer.
A banking service could be an interesting option. A simple, straightforward banking service of minimal frills and (hopefully) no fees could be a welcome addition to the US banking scene. As pointed out before, a significant portion of the population doesn't hold a traditional bank account. A straightforward "checking" account with no minimum balance, an online portal, and a debit card would go a long way.
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Brick and morter bank branches
