A pilot program by the U.S. Postal Service to offer check cashing services is inconsistent with congressional intent and inappropriately stretches the definition of “postal services,” the American Bankers Association said in a letter to the Postal Regulatory Commission today. ABA emphasized that the USPS cannot offer the pilot program pursuant to the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, which repealed the postal service’s authority to offer “special non-postal or similar services.”
“As a threshold matter, any policy changes to the postal service’s mission, including any entrance into financial services, should follow express Congressional direction, not increasingly strained and unsupported interpretations of what is a ‘postal service,’” ABA said. “We urge that the commission to take a more active role in regulating new product offerings by the postal service, including requiring the postal service to provide advance notice and seek approval before offering a new product.”
