US Post Office introduces computer stamps
By Michael Eskenazi
LOS ANGELES, July 14 (Reuters) - Postal customers fed up
with long lines will soon be able to buy stamps at the click of
a mouse.
In a bid to keep up with the Internet, the U.S. Postal
Service is set to team up with E-Stamp, in which Microsoft
<MSFT.O> owns about a 10 percent stake, and Stamps.com
<STMP.O> to offer a computer-generated stamp.
The software, which is expected to be offered nationwide by
early fall, initially targets small businesses which often do
large numbers of mailings but not enough to justify the
purchase of postage meters.
Post Office spokeswoman Pam Gibert told Reuters Wednesday
the software eventually will be used by large corporations and
individuals as well.
Customers will buy a block of postage from the software
company, say $100 worth. Along with a "stamp" image similar to
that printed by a postage meter, a bar code also will be
imprinted on the envelope indicating the user, serial number of
the device that printed it, and amount of postage.
Users must sign a licensing agreement, as would firms that
purchase postage meters.
Gibert said the bar-coding system is more secure than
postage meters, which have become easier to counterfeit with
color printers. Each parcel will be read by a scanner, which
can immediately detect if a bar code has been duplicated.
The programs work with virtually any black-and-white ink
jet or laser jet printer and firms can alter the font of the
stamp to fit in with their images.
E-Stamp uses a hardware "vault" that plugs into the back of
a computer and stores postage information. Purchases through
Stamps.com are done online. E-stamp users can add credit to
their vault through online electronic fund transfers from their
bank accounts.
E-Stamp will require a hardware and software purchase.
Stamps.com, which made its stock market debut in June, will
make its software available through a free Internet download.
Both will charge a transaction fee of about 10 percent of the
postage per parcel.
The innovation will make trips to the post office virtually
obsolete. The packages include "postage wizards" which tell
users about the postal service's pricing plans and service
times and other services. |
