Duncan Black makes an exciting catch in the Governing article on SEPTA:
Deon said the new brand-name smart card will be a godsend to SEPTA’s riders, including those who don’t use banks. “Why should they pay $900 a year in fees at check-chasing trailers?” he said, when they can directly deposit their checks into the new smart cards and pay all their bills without exorbitant fees.
I have no idea how many Philadelphians rely on check cashing businesses for their banking needs, or if $900 a year is a good estimate of what the average person pays in fees, but cutting out the fees would mean a nice raise for a lot of people.
A public option for plain vanilla depository banking is a pretty good idea that’s been tossed around by some progressive writers, and it would be awesome to see SEPTA step in to that space and provide people with basic debit cards.
