September 6, 2002
Gazing into the crystal ball
"The future of mail remains strong," says Mark Fallon, CEO of the Berkshire Company, a mail center consulting firm.
"Yes, there will be some diversion to electronic communication, but it will be slower than predicted. Less than 5% of Americans pay bills online," said Fallon in the September Mail Center Management Report.
Why do people still prefer the mail? The need for physical copies of documents and a lack of trust in the dot-coms are two reasons, said Fallon.
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September 6, 2002
Online bill paying:
expensive to set up, slow to catch on . . . for now
WASHINGTON — Electronic diversion of remittance mail — bills and payments —represents a significant threat to First-Class Mail revenues, but consumers have been slow to jump on the online payment bandwagon for a variety of reasons, says SilicanValley.com.
 "Banks are daunted by the setup costs and the challenge of convincing consumers of the value of such a system," says the article.
According to a new study from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, it is expensive to create an online bill payment system. ". . . And even with an electronic system in place, it must still run for the foreseeable future side-by-side with traditional paper processing," says SilicanValley.com.
But while a majority of consumers haven't embraced this new technology, electronic diversion of some First-Class Mail is already underway. As more and more people become comfortable with computers and the Internet, online bill payment is expected to grow in popularity.
What can USPS employees do? Provide excellent service at the lowest possible cost. As the Postal Service continues to implement its Transformation Plan, the focus is on improving productivity, boosting efficiencies and reducing expenses.
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