New Service Promises Faster Postage Payments
Last November, Pitney Bowes revealed a new service called EasyPermitPostage that allows mail houses
to request postage on a client's behalf and receive payment in 24 hours or less. Often it is postage
payments that hold up bulk mailings since postage must be determined and requested by
the mail house and the mailer must then arrange for postage to be sent to the mail house or
USPS. This process can
often lead to delays and accounting departments, budgets, purchase orders and mailing postage can
only increase delays.
The EasyPermitPostage service functions as a credit line for mailers and a bank account for lettershops.
By simply logging on to http://www.easypermitpostage.pb.com and
requesting the postage amount from a client's account, the funds are electronically transferred directly to the
lettershop usually in less than 24 hours. The mailer receives a monthly statement detailing all transactions and
offers the choice of paying in full or make payments.
Pitney Bowes offers the service free to mail houses and charges an annual service fee to mailers. The
fees are based on the amount of annual postage use and range from as little as $179 to $1,999. When
mailers' balances are not paid in full a finance charge is also accrued similar to any credit
line.
Ink-drying Powders Mistaken For Anthrax?
According to a document on the USPS web site, ink-drying powders used by printers could cause a
"false-positive" in the service's Anthrax contamination systems. The document states that many printers
have voluntarily ceased using ink-drying powders to eliminate the possible delays that
could be caused if USPS employees suspect biological contamination. Suspect mail pieces would have to be examined
by experts to access the danger.
News Poll
Send your vote to mailto:webmaster@mailcci.com or vote
online. Visit http://www.mailCCI.com and in
the Interactive menu choose Today's Survey.
How does your company solicit customer feedback?
____ Surveys
____ Call-backs
____ We do not solicit feedback
We'll post the poll results here in next month's e-newsletter.
------------------------------------------------------------
Results of last month's poll:
How will you buy gifts this season?
37% Traditional Store
30% Mail Order Catalogs
33% Internet Shopping
See the results of other surveys CCI has conducted online at http://www.mailcci.com/data/surveys.asp.
www.mailCCI.com
Have you tried the all-new mailCCI.com? We have a new,
streamlined design to help you get better access to the direct mail resources you need. Not just another lettershop
web site, mailCCI.com offers you tools like the
ZIP Code Look Up, news like past issues of this
newsletter, and educational resources like the Direct Mail
Quiz. Everything easy to find, easy to use, and best of all, FREE!
Visit CCI now at http://www.mailcci.com.