It can be harder to find banks in some of Cuyahoga County’s struggling neighborhoods. Community leaders in Cleveland are looking to change that.
Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur is backing a petition urging the Postmaster General to make Cleveland a pilot city for postal banking.
“We’re trying to get the post offices empowered to offer limited financial services in neighborhoods that have no financial services that are fair right now," Kaptur said. "And we want to do a pilot project in the Cleveland area saying we think this would be a great place for the postal service to test the concept.”
Kaptur says a lack of banks in some neighborhoods has allowed payday lenders to move into those areas. She adds that these businesses charge for cashing a check or often lead people to loans with interest rates they can’t afford.
The U.S. Postal Service offered limited banking services until 1966 when Congress abolished the system.
Kaptur plans on delivering the petition with over 1,500 signatures to the Postmaster General.