Editing United States Postal Service (section)

== Financial services ==

Postal [[money order]]s provide a safe alternative to sending [[cash]] through the mail, and are available in any amount up to $1,000. Like a [[cheque|bank check]], money orders are cashable only by the recipient. Unlike a personal bank check, they are prepaid and therefore cannot be returned because of insufficient funds.<ref>[http://www.usps.com/money/sendingmoney/moneyorders/welcome.htm Domestic Money Orders]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723222824/http://www.usps.com/money/sendingmoney/moneyorders/welcome.htm |date=July 23, 2011 }}. USPS (November 26, 2008). Retrieved July 8, 2011.</ref> Money orders are a declining business for the USPS, as companies like [[PayPal]], [[Venmo]] and others are offering electronic replacements.

From 1911 to 1967, the Postal Service also operated the [[United States Postal Savings System]], not unlike a [[savings and loan association]] with the amount of the deposit limited.<ref name="postal savings system">{{cite web |url=http://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/postal-savings-system.pdf |title=Postal Savings System by Historian, United States Postal Service, July 2008 |access-date=July 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114081647/http://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/postal-savings-system.pdf |archive-date=January 14, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref>

A January 2014 report by the inspector general of the USPS suggested that the agency could earn $8.9&nbsp;billion per year in revenue by providing financial services, especially in areas where there are no local banks but there is a local post office, and to customers who currently do not have bank accounts.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.uspsoig.gov/sites/default/files/document-library-files/2015/rarc-wp-14-007_0.pdf|title=Providing Non-Bank Financial Services for the Underserved|date=January 17, 2014|access-date=May 16, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016081958/https://www.uspsoig.gov/sites/default/files/document-library-files/2015/rarc-wp-14-007_0.pdf|archive-date=October 16, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>