Nearly 17 million American adults live in households where no one has a checking account; more than 50 million more have a checking account, but also have to rely on things like payday lenders and check cashing stores, according to a new report from United for a Fair Economy. These numbers include more than half of black households and nearly half of Latino households, and it takes a huge toll: these overwhelmingly low-income households spend around $3,000 a year—more than 10 percent of the total annual income for many—on interest and fees to predatory fringe lenders, adding up to $103 billion a year nationwide. But there’s an easy answer to make affordable, reliable banking services available to most of these people: postal banking.
