Nearly 28% of U.S. households are underserved by traditional banks, and turn, instead, to payday lenders, check cashers and other financial predators – spending nearly 10 percent of their income on fees and services, on average. These services are part of an industry that rakes in $103 billion a year at the expense of the most financially vulnerable.

There is a simple solution: postal banking. The more than 30,000 branches of the U.S. Postal Service can provide affordable, nonprofit, consumer-driven financial services ranging from paycheck cashing and bill payment to savings accounts and small dollar loans.

The USPS is a well-trusted public institution that currently provides limited financial services such as money orders. The USPS can act now to:

Install surcharge-free ATMs that make it possible for recipients of public benefits to access funds without paying a fee;

Expand services to include payroll check cashing; and

Provide bill paying and electronic funds transfers.

For those without access to traditional banks as well as those looking for an alternative to the Big Banks, postal banking is a real solution that serves the public, not Wall Street.

Call on the Postmaster General to implement postal banking now. We need a nonprofit banking option, and we need to strengthen and preserve the United States Postal Service.