A BANK ACCOUNT SHOULD NOT BE A MEMBERSHIP PRIVILEGE.

JUSTICE · ECONOMIC JUSTICE

Published by | Langhorne P. Breedlove

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2026 · 12:23 AM ET

Tags: Public Banking · Postal Savings · Financial Inclusion · Credit Unions · Consumer Protection

Dear fellow American proletariat: America has a post office, a Treasury Department, public roads and enough financial engineering to turn an ordinary mortgage into a product only three lawyers and a hedge-fund manager can explain. Yet opening and keeping a basic bank account can still be an ordeal for people who have little money, lack convenient branches or distrust the institutions available to them. Perhaps the modest ambition of safely depositing a paycheck need not require an audition.

American Proletariat proposes universal access to basic accounts, cash handling and payments through publicly accountable infrastructure, including postal financial-service partnerships and the option for state public banks. This is not a declaration that every American must abandon private banking. It is an argument for a dependable alternative, designed to work alongside credit unions, community banks and responsible private providers.

THE MANDATE

Establish a nationally accessible, low-cost basic financial-service option with clear pricing, practical account access and protections against punitive fees. The service should support receiving wages and benefits, making ordinary payments, withdrawing or depositing cash where feasible and safely maintaining modest savings. Under AP's proposal, ordinary consumers would not be denied useful services solely because their balances are small.

Congress would evaluate whether a federal public-service account provider, a nationwide partnership with federally insured banks and credit unions, or a hybrid postal model could deliver these functions most safely. State and Tribal public-banking options should remain available within applicable law. Public ownership, postal retail access and federal deposit insurance are different legal arrangements; no proposal should quietly pretend one automatically produces the others.

ROOTS & HISTORY

Congress established the Postal Savings System on June 25, 1910, and deposits began on January 1, 1911. It was intended to offer secure, convenient savings facilities, including for immigrants familiar with postal savings abroad and people skeptical of commercial banks. The initial minimum deposit was $1, and accounts paid 2% annual interest. (Source 01)

The system grew during the Depression and World War II. Deposits peaked at nearly $3.4 billion in 1947 before declining as banks offered more attractive products and federally insured deposits. The program stopped accepting deposits in 1966 and ended officially on July 1, 1967. Postal banking is therefore neither a fantasy nor an uninterrupted service Americans already possess; it is a historical institution that ended and would need a modern legal design. (Source 01)

Public banking has a distinct history. North Dakota established the Bank of North Dakota in 1919 to support agriculture, commerce and industry when local borrowers faced difficult credit conditions. Its model emphasizes partnership lending and public deposits rather than simply turning every post-office counter into a full retail bank. Congressional Research Service analysis identifies both the public purposes and operational tradeoffs of such institutions. (Source 02)

TODAY · WHO STILL GETS LEFT OUT?

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's 2023 national household survey found that 4.2% of U.S. households, approximately 5.6 million households, had no checking or savings account at a bank or credit union. Another 14.2%, approximately 19 million households, had accounts but used certain nonbank transaction or credit services and were classified as underbanked. These are separate measures, not interchangeable categories. (Source 03)

Among unbanked households, the FDIC reported that insufficient money to meet minimum balance requirements was the most commonly cited main reason for not having an account; lack of trust in banks was second. The survey also found substantial differences in bank access by income and demographic characteristics. That evidence supports investigating access barriers; it does not prove that public ownership alone would solve them. (Source 03)

The Postal Service already offers domestic money orders, which can be purchased at Post Offices in amounts up to $1,000 per order and cashed subject to its rules. That is a real financial service, but it is not the same as a checking account, insured savings deposit or open-ended lending facility. (Source 04)

Low-cost accounts are also available through existing institutions. The FDIC identifies Bank On-certified account models with transparent fees and no overdraft or insufficient-funds fees, showing that public policy can improve access without requiring government to own every balance sheet. (Source 05)

THE LEGAL PATH

Congress would need to specify a federal program's permissible products, ownership, supervision, funding, customer protections and institutional responsibilities. The Postal Service's ability to issue money orders is not, by itself, statutory permission to operate a new federally insured deposit bank. A partnership model could allow regulated banks or credit unions to hold accounts while postal facilities provide defined customer access, subject to procurement, privacy and operational agreements. (Sources 02, 04)

Deposit insurance must be explicit. FDIC coverage applies to qualifying deposits at insured banks, generally up to at least $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, per ownership category; a public account outside that framework would require a separately enacted guarantee or another legally defined safeguard. Public confidence should rest on law and supervision, not an attractive eagle printed on a debit card. (Source 06)

THE PLAN · FINANCIAL ACCESS THAT ACTUALLY WORKS

01 · START WITH BASIC ACCOUNTS

Offer transparent low-fee or no-fee transactions, direct deposit, bill payment, basic debit access, and no surprise overdraft charges. Include accommodation for customers without smartphones, people with disabilities and residents in remote places. Publish account eligibility, identification procedures, cash limits and complaint rights in plain language.

02 · USE THE POSTAL NETWORK CAREFULLY

Pilot cash services and assisted enrollment at selected Post Offices where the need is measurable and staffing is practical. Separate postal workers' responsibilities from regulated banking functions, train personnel and assess physical security, fraud prevention and cash-handling costs. A post office is an existing public location, not free real estate with unlimited staff capacity.

03 · PARTNER WITH CREDIT UNIONS & STATE BANKS

Invite credit unions, community banks, eligible public banks and Tribal financial institutions to compete or collaborate under enforceable service standards. State public banking should be an option for local lending and liquidity needs, not an automatic national monopoly. Establish independent boards, conflict-of-interest restrictions and controls against political lending.

04 · PROTECT PRIVACY & ACCOUNTABILITY

Require strong protections for financial records, cybersecurity, accessibility, deposit safety, clear dispute resolution and ordinary anti-money-laundering compliance. No customer should have to trade personal privacy for the privilege of cashing a paycheck, and no politically connected borrower should receive a public loan without independent underwriting.

THE TEN-YEAR LEDGER

AP must compare at least three models: partnerships using existing regulated accounts; postal retail-service expansion; and a separate public bank or public deposit institution. A ten-year baseline should include currently available postal money-order services, existing account-access initiatives, regulatory oversight and any relevant state-bank activity. Costs will differ dramatically among these models; it would be misleading to assign one universal price before choosing the institution. (Sources 02, 04, 05)

For year one, estimate program design, statutory and regulatory implementation, pilot locations, hardware and cybersecurity, personnel training, contracted bank services, customer support, fraud losses, and account usage. For fiscal years two through ten, model adoption, operating costs, revenue from permissible services, deposit funding, required reserves, insurance or guarantee obligations, supervisory expenses, capital adequacy and economic effects. Do not count customer deposits as government revenue available for unrelated spending.

The central estimate, a lower-cost partnership scenario and a high-cost standalone-bank scenario should be published separately. Net costs remain unresolved until the service model, number of customers, expected account balances and legal guarantees are specified. Neither zero-cost postal access nor risk-free public lending is a credible budgeting assumption.

WHAT COULD GO WRONG?

The proposal raises real questions. A public provider could crowd out small credit unions, concentrate sensitive financial data, underprice services with hidden subsidies or become vulnerable to political interference. Postal staffing and technology may not be prepared for full retail banking. A poorly managed public lending program could expose taxpayers to credit losses; a narrow basic-account program may have fewer credit risks but also deliver fewer services.

An alternative is to strengthen existing Bank On accounts, limit junk fees, finance mobile outreach and provide safe cash access without establishing a new bank. That option may be cheaper and quicker in some communities. AP should test it on equal terms rather than insisting that public ownership is always the answer. Financial inclusion is the outcome; the institutional design is a tool.

MEASURING SUCCESS

Track the percentage and number of unbanked and underbanked households, accounts opened and actively used, fees paid per customer, fraud and complaint rates, deposit safety, branch and postal accessibility, rural coverage, customer retention, and direct public costs per household served. Report performance by geography and income group without disclosing individual financial data.

A financial system should not require anyone to become wealthy before it becomes useful to them. The test is whether a person can safely receive money, keep it, spend it and save it without being punished for having too little of it. That is an administrative question, a consumer-protection question and an economic-justice question. It deserves an answer better than another overdraft notice.

SOURCES & FURTHER READING

01 · Smithsonian National Postal Museum — The 20th Century: Postal Savings System, historical account of 1911–1967. https://postalmuseum.si.edu/the-20th-century-postal-savings-system

02 · Congressional Research Service — Public Banks: History and Recent Proposals, September 20, 2022. https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/IF/PDF/IF12216/IF12216.1.pdf

03 · Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation — 2023 FDIC National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households, published November 12, 2024. https://www.fdic.gov/household-survey

04 · U.S. Postal Service — Money Orders, current domestic money-order products and conditions. https://www.usps.com/shop/money-orders.htm

05 · Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation — GetBanked: Bank On accounts and basic banking access. https://www.fdic.gov/getbanked

06 · Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation — Understanding Deposit Insurance, updated April 1, 2024. https://www.fdic.gov/resources/deposit-insurance/understanding-deposit-insurance

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WE ARE ONE.  ·  E PLURIBUS UNUM.