JPMorgan may offer services at post offices. Credit unions aren't happy.

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WASHINGTON — JPMorgan Chase is reportedly in discussions with the U.S. Postal Service to test ATMs and other banking services at post offices in several states, according to a report Wednesday from Capitol Forum.

According to one of Capitol Forum's sources, the deal involves JPMorgan Chase — the largest bank in the United States, with $3.2 trillion of assets — leasing space from the postal service. Capitol Forum also reported that the proposal could give JPMorgan the “exclusive right” to solicit postal customers. It is unclear how the deal would impact postal credit unions, some of which have branches and ATMs inside postal facilities.

Representatives from JPMorgan Chase and the U.S. Postal Service could not be reached for comment.

Bloomberg

The news comes as the U.S. Postal Service has been under increased public scrutiny, with President Trump railing against the agency for its operating losses and Democrats pushing for additional funding for the agency as more states pursue vote-by-mail programs ahead of November's presidential election. Some Democratic lawmakers have called for proposed legislation to offer banking services at post offices to better serve unbanked or underbanked households.

The credit union industry has long been against postal banking and Wednesday's news prompted quick condemnation.

“Allowing Wall Street mega banks free-reign to solicit customers from community post offices would amount to nothing more than a power grab aimed at bolstering profits,” Dan Berger, president and CEO of the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions, said in a statement. “From their beginning, credit unions have stepped up to the plate to deliver financial lifelines to vulnerable communities. Policymakers should advance policies that allow not-for-profit, member-owned credit unions to serve more underserved populations."

Mehrsa Baradaran, a professor at the University of California, Irvine School of Law, has advovcated for postal banking, but she said that JPMorgan’s plan may not be the best model.

“This is better than nothing — having JPMorgan team up with the USPS is better than the status quo — but when you look at what JPMorgan is doing, it may not provide the services that are the most essential for financial access everywhere, because they need to focus on the bottom line,” Baradaran said.

“JPMorgan Chase is a bank’s bank,” Baradaran said. “What I would envision for postal banking is having ATMs, debit accounts, low balance checking accounts — all things with higher overhead costs for banks. There would be thin margins, if any. … But if you’re JPMorgan, what’s the calculus here?”

Some analyts have also suggested the plan could be one of the rare instances that puts community banks and credit unions on the same side of an issue.

Community banks have long opposed efforts by lawmakers to offer banking services at every post office in the country. But Paul Merski, group executive vice president for congressional relations and strategy at the Independent Community Bankers of America, said he would not necessarily oppose JPMorgan’s proposal, noting that the bank “places ATMs everywhere around the country.” JPMorgan Chase currently operates 5,000 branches in 38 states and Washington, D.C.

Merski said that the reported arrangement with the U.S. Postal Service would be an "odd partnering" and that the one issue he has is with the prospect of JPMorgan taking deposits in rural areas and deploying them elsewhere.

“The only concern I have is where you are not having a physical presence but you are basically collecting deposits from a local area, maybe a more rural area, and then moving those deposits out and using them in other parts of the country,” Merski said.

Aaron Passman contributed to this report.