USPS sells nearly $20B worth of money orders a year

Re:USPS sells nearly $20B worth of money orders a year by reaperducer on Sunday June 28, 2020 @08:10PM (#23673110)

It is surprising that in the day and age of online/phone banking so much money is transferred via. the post office

When the lights go out, when the internet stops, cash, checks, and money orders still work.

My country (NZ) stopped them in 1986.

Considering the number of earthquakes in New Zealand, I'd think that having multiple forms of redundant payment would be a benefit. I've been through enough natural disasters to know that putting all of one's money into one form of payment is a really bad idea.

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Re:USPS sells nearly $20B worth of money orders a year by teruakohatu on Sunday June 28, 2020 @08:15PM (#23673139)

We still use cash, just not checks or money orders.

Modern mobile infrastructure is quite resilient against earthquakes. Towers are backed by generators and mobile phones have batteries. Payment terminals here are often mobile (3g) connected and contain batteries.

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Re:USPS sells nearly $20B worth of money orders a year by reaperducer on Sunday June 28, 2020 @10:23PM (#23673808)

I've seen plenty of cell phone towers knocked over or disabled by earthquakes. And in emergencies, cell infrastructure is often gridlocked.

Maybe it's fine for NZ, but I have yet to go through a hurricane or tornado where the mobile networks didn't crumble. I've seen and read about blizzards, floods and sandstorms halting communications networks.

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