Tag Archive: Alternative Financial Institutions

Urban Policy Professor Lisa Servon Weighs In on Proposed Financial Services Through the Post Office

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The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General issued a white paper in January proposing a new line of business: providing nonbank financial services to the “underserved” by handling bill payments, making small loans, offering international money transfers in order to bolster the Post Office’s ability to remain financially self-sustaining. In an op-ed piece for the …

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Urban Policy Professor Lisa Servon on Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane

Urban Policy Professor Lisa Servon was recently on WHYY’s Public Media program Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane in the episode Can the post office be a bank? The episode delves into the topic of banking at the Post Office. With cash-checking stores and pay-day loans frequently having high interests and fees, the question is raised: could …

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Urban Policy Prof. Lisa Servon Gives Talk at PopTech 2013 Annual Conference

Urban Policy Prof. Lisa Servon was a speaker at the PopTech 2013 annual conference where she discussed how her experience at a check-cashing facility in the Bronx informs her work towards improving financial services for poor Americans. According to Lisa: “Poor people know best what they need. It is not the policy makers and the …

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Urban Policy Professor Lisa Servon Published in The New Yorker

Urban Policy Professor Lisa Servon recently spent four months working as a teller at RiteCheck, a check casher, in the South Bronx. She set out to gain a better understanding of why the poor choose to use these types of finance institutions rather than traditional banks. Read more about her experience and findings in her …

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Urban Policy Prof. Lisa Servon Took Bank Teller Job for Research

In an attempt to further understand how and why individuals use “alternative” financial service institutions (check cashers, payday lenders, etc.), Urban Policy Professor Lisa Servon recently took a job as a bank teller in the South Bronx for four months.

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