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Anderson, Bullock, George, Litten, O'Leary, O'Malley, Rader RESOLUTION NO. 9046 -18 BY: A RESOLUTION to take effect immediately, provided it receives the affirmative vote of five members of council, or otherwise to take effect and be in force after the earliest period allowed by law, supporting the campaign for postal banking. Whereas, an astounding one in four U.S. households (26.9 %) is at least partially outside the financial mainstream, or underserved by traditional banks, according to a 2015 survey by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; and Whereas those underserved by traditional banks must rely on high -cost and often predatory "alternative" financial services including payday loans and check - cashing services, resulting in underserved households with an average annual income of $25,000 spending an average of $2,400 per year on interest and fees; and Whereas, access to financial services is key to ensuring economic and social opportunity for low- income Americans, a vital priority at a time of growing inequality in our nation; and Whereas, large banks have closed branches in low- income communities (where the largest number of underserved Americans reside); and Whereas, the U.S. Postal Service operates more than 33,000 retail locations nationwide, many of which are located in "bank deserts" (59 percent of post offices are in zip codes with either zero banks or only one bank branch); and Whereas, the U.S. Postal Service has a mandate to serve all Americans, regardless of geography, at affordable'and uniform pricing; and has a skilled workforce which processes more than 286,000 money orders every day; therefore, the Postal Service has the infrastructure to provide mur li- nei-.de 1 financial servir.PC- 111 \/► V 11 1 L V V K V K 1111 V Y a 1 V 1 W i V V 1 t Whereas, worldwide, 1.5 billion people receive some financial services through their postal service and the U.S. Post Office Department successfully offered financial services, including savings accounts, for more than 50 years from 1911 -1967; and Whereas, the Postal Service is consistently rated one of the most trusted institutions and enjoys a much higher level of confidence from the public than do banks and payday lenders; and Whereas, the LISPS Office of Inspector General asserts that the Postal Service can act now to provide consumers with affordable financial services, by expanding and enhancing services including money orders and international money transfers, and introducing new services such as check - cashing, bill pay, and no -fee AIMS, and can do so under current legal and regulatory authority; and Whereas, providing these services would strengthen our national treasure, the public Postal Service; and