The Aug. 22 Business article about U.S. Bank's efforts to help the "underbanked" provided a fascinating contrast with the Aug. 21 "60 Minutes" segment on the financial technology (fintech) revolution.
Fintech is reinventing almost every aspect of banking by providing online transactions between parties without any bank's intervention. Stripe, the fintech company featured in the "60 Minutes" segments, is just one of many such firms that have quickly joined the "revolution." Fintech will be to banking what e-mails are to the U.S. Postal Service.
Contrast no-bank transactions with the banking industry's "safe debit account" products and their $4.95 monthly maintenance fees. Without regular additional deposits, those fees will reduce the customer's $25 minimum deposit to 25 cents in five months.
Perhaps the headline should have been "U.S. Bank helps itself to the underbanked." If it were to be successful in opening these accounts for the 223,000 Twin Cities households that operate partly or completely outside the mainstream banking system, monthly income (mandatory maintenance fees) would exceed $1 million. With that kind of additional income, perhaps the bank could put its name on the soon-to-be soccer stadium.
Michael Bates, Ham Lake
STATE GOVERNMENT
Bill bundling, procrastination are baked into a bad cake
Finger-pointing does not correct flawed policy and institutional practices ("A sorry finish to unproductive session," Aug. 20).
The Star Tribune has had a number of articles about the 2016 legislative sessions, which sadly neglected to cover long-standing legislative use of omnibus bills and last-minute introductions of vital bills affecting everyday Minnesotans. Omnibus bills create an environment of brinkmanship instead of collaboration and compromise. Minnesota's Constitution was designed for bills to be heard individually rather than heard through omnibus legislation. Each transportation project should be introduced and voted on, based on its merits and its needs individually. Then the author of the proposed legislation would have to seek co-authors and be willing to be open to negotiation and compromise (which, as we have seen, is missing at the State Capitol).
Second, bills should be heard throughout the session and not within the last three days of the legislative year. Both political parties have been guilty of utilizing omnibus bills and end-of-session bills as political leverage on the minority party.
I would urge the Star Tribune to embrace these recommendations and, further, to require candidates running for office to agree in writing to never again use end-of-session bill introductions and to end the use of omnibus bills.