Have you ever thought Uncle Sam would make a good lender? Today, 57 percent of Americans say they could not cover an unplanned $500 expense. With a broken bone or a shot ignition system threatening to put many Americans in debt, maybe it’s time we consider our options for improving access to quality loans. If advocates have their way, government-to-consumer, or G2C, lending will join business-to-consumer and peer-to-peer lending as a preferred method for nonprime borrowers to access loans of $1,000 or less.

National security, humanitarian assistance, social services, roads, and bridges are normally what comes to mind when you think of government services. We don’t think of state and federal agencies as financial services institutions, but that’s exactly what Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., proposed last month. Her proposal would expand the role of the Post Office to include offering financial services like debit cards, check cashing, and small-dollar loans to everyday people. This sounds like a seismic, out-of-the-box innovation in the relationship between citizens and their government — in reality, Americans have been going to the Bank of Uncle Sam for generations.