BIG BANKS ARE PROFITING FROM PUBLIC PROGRAMS LIKE FOOD STAMPS AND UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS

Over at New Deal 2.0, Bryce Covert outlines how the biggest banks are profiting by administering public programs like food stamps and unemployment insurance, to the detriment of taxpayers and those who need such programs to get by. For instance, “U.S. Bancorp, which provides unemployment benefit debit cards, made $357 million in revenue in the division that handles the cards. That amount is more than one-fourth of its total revenue.” JP Morgan, meanwhile, “made $5.47 billion in net revenue for most of last year in the division that handles food stamp cards, and it was up two percent is the last three months of the year.” As Covert summed up, “big banks are making a tidy profit by acting as middlemen for what should be publicly provided services.”