Remittance Mail Advisory Committee

Recommendations 
to the 
U.S. Postal Service

Submitted to:

Patrick R. Donohoe 
Deputy Postmaster General and Chief Operating Officer

Anita J. Bizzotto
Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer

William P. Galligan
Senior Vice President, Operations

Nicholas F. Barranca
Vice President, Product Development

Linda A. Kingsley
Vice President, Strategic Planning

July 17, 2006

Introduction

This report is submitted by the Remittance Mail Advisory Committee (RMAC) to the 
U.S. Postal Service in response to a charge from the Product Development group to develop recommendations designed to improve business and operational alignment between the U.S. Postal Service and the billing and remittance industry.

The volunteer committee included fourteen organizations, representing key segments of this industry including biller, bank, payment processor, credit card provider, lockbox provider, software and/or hardware vendor, and trade association. Membership also reflected key industries that represent the highest volume of remittance mail including insurance, telecommunications, utility, and financial services. 

The insights contained in the committee’s report are augmented with input from the broader billing and remittance industry as outlined in Appendix F. 

The fourteen members of the RMAC represent a significant voice in the industry. 
Annually, the companies represented by RMAC:

•	Send and receive over 8.2 billion bills, statements and payments
•	Operate 58 remittance processing sites throughout the United States
•	Deposit over $3.8 trillion in payments

Committee representation also includes the following:

•	The number one remittance mail consulting company in the United States
•	The number one provider of remittance mail sorting, extraction, and scanning equipment in the United States
•	One of the nation’s leading providers of remittance processing systems
•	Internationally recognized brands for Credit Cards, Telecommunications, and Insurance 
•	A utility that provides energy for the Chicago metropolitan area, Philadelphia metropolitan area, and most of New Jersey
•	Two of the top ten financial institutions in the United States

While the report is designed to provide far-reaching insights to common issues, some recommendations need to be more fully developed.  This report does not represent the ‘final word’ on the issues and solutions. Rather, it represents the committee’s advice on how to improve the alignment between the U.S. Postal Service and the Industry. Going forward, the committee envisions a more mobilized industry around postal issues and a stronger channel to, and partnership with, the U.S. Postal Service.

Within the RMAC, three subcommittees developed recommendations in three key areas of industry concern:

•	The need for improved two-way Communications
•	The need for consistent Performance Metrics
•	New industry-related Product and Service opportunities

Through a series of four in-person meetings, the RMAC members drafted these recommendations to be presented to members of U.S. Postal Service’s senior management. This report and the final presentation are designed to initiate a dialogue and strengthen the partnership between the agency and this core industry. 

Table of Contents

Communications Sub-Committee
SUB-COMMITTEE MEMBERS
ASSESSMENT
SUB-COMMITTEE GOALS
KEY ISSUES AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Communications Protocol
Industry Awareness
Information Sharing
Performance Metrics Sub-Committee
SUB-COMMITTEE MEMBERS
ASSESSMENT
SUB-COMMITTEE GOALS
KEY ISSUES AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Performance Variability
Measurement Tools
Industry-Wide Best Practices
New Products and Services Sub-Committee
SUB-COMMITTEE MEMBERS
ASSESSMENT
SUB-COMMITTEE GOAL
KEY CONSIDERATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Survey Results and Recommendations
New Product and Service Concepts
CONCLUSIONS
Challenges
Expectations
Committee Feedback & Self Assessment
Appendix A – RMAC Guidelines
Appendix B – RMAC Members
Appendix C – Sub-Committee Agendas
Appendix D – Communications Channels
Appendix E - Concept Descriptions
Communications Sub-Committee

SUB-COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Robert Craig, Senior Vice President of Business Development; First Data-REMITCO, Chairperson
Kitty Turner, Division Manager, Allstate Insurance Company
Don Gagne, Director of Remittance Processing, Discover Financial Services

ASSESSMENT

The payments industry has undergone dramatic shifts as technologies and customer behaviors have evolved.  In this environment, major mailing organizations upheld the importance of collecting payments in a timely manner as a key strategic goal. The Industry has collectively worked on improving processing and availability float— that is the amount of time needed to process its payments and make those funds available for organizational use. In this changing environment, the role of the U.S. Postal Service has become much more important in successful treasury management.

Many major mailers have found it difficult to partner with the U.S. Postal Service to achieve the Industry’s national billing and payment goals. One key area identified for improvement is communications with the U.S. Postal Service, both on a national and regional level. Currently, there is no consistent channel for information about the national policies, programs, and services relevant to billing and payment organizations, thereby creating customer confusion and making it more difficult for billing and remittance companies to properly manage their operations. 

On the regional level, many organizations report they experience resistance from the Postal Service to opening and maintaining a dialog with customers. The regional Post Offices and processing facilities appear at times to be apathetic or are non-responsive when customer organizations attempt to communicate about operational issues. The Industry views communication as a significant opportunity to improve alignment between the Industry and postal operations, but is not sure if the U.S. Postal Service shares this view. As a result, the Industry has categorically viewed the U.S. Postal Service as unconcerned, which has encouraged the exploration of alternatives to mail services. 

SUB-COMMITTEE GOALS

1.	Define how the Industry and U.S. Postal Service can communicate more effectively.
2.	Recommend tactics for better communication between postal headquarters and field offices.
3.	Define a sustainable model for communicating important Industry trends and issues affecting the business of remittance processing to the U.S. Postal Service.

KEY ISSUES AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The committee has identified three categories of issues that should be addressed to improve communications and business alignment between the U.S. Postal Service and the billing and remittance industry. The areas that have predominately led to communications break-down include:
a) Communications protocol
b) Industry awareness
c) Information sharing

Communications Protocol

There appears to be no strategy for consistently communicating relevant information to the Industry (through industry or postal channels) which affects customers’ daily operations. 

There is no clear understanding of which key U.S. Postal Service representatives are responsible for the varied issues involved in daily operations. Not all Industry organizations are familiar with the BSN network. Not all Industry organizations know a specific office or person to contact to resolve issues, often leading to delayed response time to critical mail issues.

The Industry has observed a break in communication between postal headquarters and its field offices, as well as among field offices. This results in inconsistencies across the postal network which negatively affects customers’ multi-site operations.

Recommendations

a.	Communications Strategy

It is recommended that the U.S. Postal Service and the Industry both adopt a strategic position toward communicating to improve business alignment. In this model, specific informational needs of the Industry should be understood by the U.S. Postal Service, and specific channels of communication should be identified. 

1.	Informational Needs: 
Specific informational needs are addressed in the “Information Sharing” section of the Communications Sub-Committee report.

2.	Channels:
Communication of information relevant to billing and payment organizations should be conducted on a national scale to ensure that key messages are received across the national payments network. The following channels have been identified by the Industry as optimal for effectively disseminating national communications:

o	Website: Web pages should be dedicated to the billing and payment constituency with clear distinction between outbound mailer (billers) and inbound mailer (payment processors) needs. The Industry can further advise the U.S. Postal Service on specific components at the time of development.

o	Email Address: Create an email address specifically for billing and remittance mailers to submit questions and concerns directly to the appropriate postal representatives.  

o	Subscription-based Mailing List(s): Because timeliness of mail movement is very important, sometimes more immediate communications is needed for customers to modify operation plans. An opt-in mailing list is the most efficient means of rapid communications. Two types of email alerts should be employed for both national and regional concerns: a) Disaster Alert - an immediate urgent notification of issue(s) causing interruption of service—temporarily or long term, b) Non-emergency notifications – a periodic communication of events, news, etc. 

o	Media and Article Placement: There are well-established media channels for communicating directly to the billing and remittance industry. A list of key publications has been listed in Appendix D. The U.S. Postal Service should work to place informative articles on key topics in these publications at frequent intervals. In addition, it is recommended that the U.S. Postal Service approach Today Magazine to develop a permanent column to address mail topics in this monthly publication. A partial list of topics that are important to this constituency has been listed in Appendix D. Also, by surveying the Industry periodically or allowing for topic suggestions, the U.S. Postal Service can greatly improve the level of understanding of postal issues among its customers.

o	Event Participation: Industry and U.S. Postal Service participation in billing and remittance conferences is recommended to maintain an effective dialogue. Relevant mail-related topics should be a standard on Industry trade show agendas. It is further recommended that the U.S. Postal Service partner with The Association for Work Processing Improvement (TAWPI) to develop a standing track for mail topics as well as place a postal representative on the conference’s advisory panel. A partial list of trade shows that should have U.S. Postal Service participation has been listed in Appendix D.

b.	Communications Failure

Because many billing and remittance organizations are national in scope, these organizations have to manage relationships with multiple postal field offices to accomplish their national goals. There has been fragmented communications between postal headquarters and field offices in terms of proper policy and procedure. 

o	Standardize Routing: It is recommended that communications relevant to the billing and remittance industry be shared with and categorized as “required reading” by:

•	National Account Managers (NAM) and Account Managers
•	Operations Area Remittance Mail Coordinators
•	Business Service Network (BSN) personnel
•	Managers of In-Plant Support (MIPS)

In addition, individuals responsible for shift operations (Manager of Distribution Operations) and Caller Box sections should be copied with relevant communications.

o	Regional Councils: The U.S. Postal Service should adopt a regional council model as the standard in major cities where remittance mail customers’ mail destinates. The group would function as the primary channel for local communications in monthly or quarterly meeting with postal management and customers. In those cities that have functioning councils, communications and performance are enhanced. 

c.	Postal Points of Contact

o	Publicize Key Contacts: Key points of contact should be clearly identified in national and regional communications channels (websites, customer councils, postal publications, etc.). Contacts should be identified for each major category of issue to ensure the most efficient turn-around.  

It is further recommended that the U.S. Postal Service identify who represents the Industry as Account Managers and as Business Service Network Representatives. A look-up feature on the postal website should be made available and publicized to the Industry as a part of this communications campaign.

Industry Awareness

U.S. Postal Service representatives lack a basic understanding of who their customers are on a national and local level. Specifically, Account Managers and Business Service Network Representatives do not demonstrate an understanding of the Industry and its needs. This lack of understanding may be the reason regional postal employees are apprehensive about communicating with customers. 

Currently the U.S. Postal Service does not recognize and demonstrate the difference and the relationship between outbound (bill) and inbound (payment) mail through its policies and procedures. 

Recommendations 

a.	Education
Ensure that postal representatives who are responsible for managing the relationship with the remittance industry understand their customers’ business. This can be done through a sustained education program. It is also recommended that postal representatives attend Industry events as a means of better understanding the business as well as building better relationships with the Industry. 

b.	Bill & Payment Connection
Minimize the discrepancy between outbound (billers) and inbound (payment processors) by ensuring that postal employees, from headquarters to the field, understand that outgoing bills and incoming payments are two components to one cycle. Make sure there are policies and procedures in place in order to decrease mail float associated with both types of mail.

Information Sharing

Both the U.S. Postal Service and the payments industry are largely “operations” businesses. There is a need for additional communication of service performance information from the U.S. Postal Service to better align the businesses, and that does not involve divulging competitive information. 

There are no feedback mechanisms from the Industry to help inform the U.S. Postal Service of significant operational changes, network plans, etc., which affect the end-to-end network.

The current “customer issue resolution” protocol employed by the Business Service Network does not account for the timeliness at which payment mail issues must be resolved. 

Recommendations

a.	Communicating Data
A more open policy of communicating data should be initiated from U.S. Postal Service headquarters and required in the regional and local offices. Specific data that should be evaluated for data sharing include: 

o	Performance Data
The Industry would like to use site-specific performance statistics, such as the External First-Class Mail (EXFC) and other measurements for the postal facilities that manage destinating remittance mail. This data, provided on a periodic basis, would help mailers compare performance of sites against U.S. Postal Service standards, would help streamline postal operations, and would help identify areas of improvement geographically. 

o	Additional Data Sources
It is further recommended that the U.S. Postal Service and the Industry jointly explore potential uses of data generated and collected by postal sortation equipment.

o	Operational Information
Additional information the Industry would like communicated pertains to issues that affect national operations such as weather-related disruptions, facility openings, closings and upgrades, and policy changes. On a regional level, the Industry recommends communicating facility service levels, facility capacity and resources, and operational schedule adjustments during holiday periods.

b.	Feedback Mechanism

o	Voice of Industry
It is recommended that there be one voice (Voice of Industry) communicating the needs and concerns of billing and payments customers to the U.S. Postal Service. When an issue arises that is of importance to the Industry, its key stakeholders should confer to develop an industry recommendation to the U.S. Postal Service.  

The primary trade association representing major billers and payment processors, The Association for Work Processing Improvement (TAWPI), has developed a Remittance Processing Council (RP Council). This council is designed to provide input to regulatory and rules organizations to ensure the needs of remittance operations are met through industry-derived recommendations. It is recommended that the Industry leverage this resource as a means of developing and communicating its recommendations on an ongoing basis to the U.S. Postal Service.

It is further recommended that a third track within the RP Council be created to address mail-related issues. The participation of a postal liaison is advised to help guide how to communicate the Industry’s specific concerns and to whom the concerns should be communicated for action. 

c.	Customer Issue Resolution

o	Modified Resolution Protocol 
Under the current resolution model, mailers are advised to notify BSNs of mail issues. It is recommended that the U.S. Postal Service adopt a simultaneous notification scheme that would make both the BSN and the local postal processing facility aware of urgent mail issues. This model ensures that all remittance issues are both logged into the national BSN database—making postal headquarters aware of possible systemic problems across the network—and brought to the immediate attention of local plant representatives who can be most responsive.

Performance Metrics Sub-Committee

SUB-COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Lex Litton, Senior Vice President Operations, Phoenix-Hecht, Chairperson
Steve Nugent, First Vice President Lockbox Network Operations, Mellon Bank
Dana J. Gould, ICP, AAP, Vice President of Product Development, TAWPI
Charles Gunn, Manager Remittance Operations, PECO Energy

ASSESSMENT

Although the U.S. Postal Service’s Remittance Mail processing is experiencing historically excellent performance by one industry measurement, that perception is not uniformly shared within the remittance processing community. This likely stems from the fact that there is no measurement within the Industry that is officially and mutually recognized by all stakeholders as the de facto standard. The U.S. Postal Service’s official First-Class Mail measurement is the External First-Class Measurement System (EXFC), which the Industry considers inadequate for monitoring 24/7 payment processing operations because it cannot differentiate time-of-day delivery. The most widely recognized industry measurement, the Phoenix-Hecht Postal Survey, is generally not subscribed to by in-house processors, who represent the majority of the Industry. 

Moreover, many payment processors, particularly banking industry lockbox processors, obtain services from multiple postal facilities around the country and find the level of service to be quite variable. While there may be substantial satisfaction at some facilities, less optimal experience at other postal facilities dampens overall satisfaction. Additionally, even within a single postal facility, service levels are perceived to vary by month, by week within the month, by weekday versus weekend, and even by shift within the day. 

SUB-COMMITTEE GOALS

1.	Identify U.S. Postal Service and industry processing standards and best practices.
2.	Suggest ways to improve the operational alignment between postal processing and industry processing.  Recommend specific tools and measurements that should be used.  
3.	Define what the remittance industry needs are relative to performance metrics.
4.	Recommend end-to-end performance measurement tools.
5.	Advise the U.S. Postal Service on how it may maintain and/or improve consistency among its major facilities.

KEY ISSUES AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The committee has identified three categories of issues that should be addressed to meet the need for effective, industry-wide performance metrics. The three key issues include:
a) Performance variability
b) Inadequate measurement tools
c) Industry-wide best practices 

Performance Variability

Remittance Mail delivery is perceived to vary substantially from plant to plant and even within a plant during certain time periods.  

a.	There is a perceived variance in delivery service to payment processors. Some national payment processors commented that delivery patterns and even commitment to excellent service varied among the plants servicing the processors. Single-site processors (those that utilized a centralized payment processing center) commented how inconsistent delivery volumes (the portion under postal control) are, for example, over weekends in different months or during different weeks within a month. This variability creates dissatisfaction within the Industry because it makes management of a production process more difficult and inefficient. Inefficient staffing was cited as a significant cost within the Industry.

In this context, there is a need by the Industry to know that all postal facilities are operating essentially under the same standards and measured by comparable metrics. Such standards and metrics would enable organizations to evaluate service from one postal facility to another. This is necessary both for those who have remittance processing operations in multiple geographic locations, as well as for those who are considering relocating their operations due to mergers, consolidations, or other operational considerations. The need is to know both how long it takes Remittance Mail to reach a destination from the time inducted into the postal system and what mail delivery profile (volume by time of day and day of week) is produced by the destination facility.

b.	The Industry’s perception of variability is not mitigated by publicly available standard procedures for postal facilities. Indeed, the seeming autonomy of processing plants actually reinforces the negative Industry perception. Likewise, Phoenix-Hecht data seems to support the perception of variability when elapsed mail hours (time period from induction of mail to receipt at the processing center) are compared and when delivery patterns by time of day 
and day of week are compared city-to-city and survey-to-survey within a city. The committee felt that this was the most important issue identified, because it negatively colors the relationship between the processor and the U.S. Postal Service.

Recommendations

Certification of “significant remittance processing facilities”

a.	The committee recommends that the U.S. Postal Service adopt a set of publicly available processing standards that must be met by a plant in order to be deemed a “significant remittance processing facility.” The U.S. Postal Service should be free to determine how many plants achieve such a designation, but the committee believes that the current set of 36 plants with more than five million remittance items a month represents an appropriate set. We further recommend that some level of quarterly audit be performed to certify compliance of a plant with the processing standards. Such a certification would clarify a set of reasonable expectations for remittance processors. It would also remove some variability in service levels among facilities by establishing minimum requirements. We further recommend this certification process be instituted as early as possible within the next year.

The committee recommends that the document Best Practices for Processing Remittance Mail (copy attached) becomes the guideline for certification. Although the committee was very impressed with the Best Practices Guide, we found the current tone of the document to lack the clarity required for a certification process. We therefore recommend that all subjective language be removed from the guide and that sections such as the “Remittance Mail Cycle Reduction Tips” be incorporated as required procedures. Of particular note, the sub-committee was extremely impressed with the bullet referencing “zero volume in inventory of remittance mail on each shift.” This particular tip would ensure consistent machine usage on all tours (shifts).  

In an effort to enforce the certification, it is the sub-committee’s recommendation that a quarterly audit program be adopted. Plant staff would be required to document that all required procedures are being observed. This document would be distributed to a predetermined group of senior operating managers within the U.S. Postal Service. A national or regional manager who is not affiliated with the postal plant should conduct one of the quarterly audits each year. The committee found “Appendix C: Remittance Processing Operations Checklists” within the Best Practices Guide to be a useful guideline for the type of audit recommended. We do, however, recommend strengthening the section “Destination Plant (Incoming Opening Unit)” to include questions about how the wait time for CIN 174 trays is minimized, and to verify that the financial scheme (897 sort programs) is run adequately throughout the entire processing day, week, and weekend. 

Measurement Tools

There are shortcomings in all current tools and measurements in use to monitor performance in the industry.   

a.	The External First Class Measurement System (EXFC) was designed to measure carrier delivery or PO Box section delivery by gauging a single delivery to the recipient. Its emphasis is to measure adherence to the delivery standard (one, two, or three days). 
The EXFC measurement does not quantify how frequently and to what extent mail delivery outperforms the standard, nor does it fully quantify to what extent mail may be failing to meet the standard. EXFC does indicate what percentage of mail misses standard, but it does not differentiate mail that barely misses standard from mail that substantially misses.  Finally, EXFC is not sensitive enough to detect subtle changes in delivery to a 24x7 operation, changes that in fact may have substantial impact.  

b.	While the Phoenix-Hecht survey is widely accepted as an industry standard for remittance mail performance, both wholesale and retail, it is only published twice a year and does not provide ongoing monitoring of performance. Moreover, in-house processors generally do not participate in the survey, so a key sector is not measured.  The committee was particularly struck by the realization that neither the processing community, nor the U.S. Postal Service can currently provide each other mutually accepted and actionable measurements when processing issues arise. The variability of existing measurements is also discouragingly diverse from location to location. There is clearly no accepted reporting mechanism for each party to assess performance.

Recommendations

Development of U.S. Postal Service remittance mail performance measurement system

a.	The committee recommends the development of a performance measurement system specifically for remittance mail. Such a system must have two components:  

First, it must report elapsed mail time in hours from a significant set of outbound plants.  Using days to measure performance does not help to foster the sense of urgency the committee would like to see in the processing of payment mail, nor does it provide information for efficient staffing. At any point in time there are billions of dollars working through the postal network. The dollar float impact associated with a single hour’s delay is economically significant.  
1.	Second, the system must report a mail availability profile (delivery volume by time of day and day of week) so that changes in that profile can be observed.  

This reporting system could be limited to the set of significant remittance processing facilities identified in Recommendation a. above. The committee feels strongly that the measurement must be associated with the U.S. Postal Service in order to have the appropriate impact within postal operations.  

b.	The committee further recommends that the new reporting system be part of compensation for plant operation staff in “significant remittance processing facilities.” For these plants, the new remittance reporting system should have an appropriate importance relative to the current EXFC. The committee is mindful that the U.S. Postal Service is reluctant to budget a second EXFC. We therefore feel that appropriate cost control measures will not dilute the impact of this system. Such measures may include using U.S. Postal Service personnel to conduct the study, and use of Confirm as the data gathering vehicle. While the measurement would optimally terminate at courier pickup, processors could use their own delivery statistics to “enhance” a system based upon Confirm (termination on plant equipment). 

c.	Finally, any such reporting system must be shared with remittance processors so they may evaluate postal performance in their particular plants as well as those in other locations.  The committee recommends that reporting should be produced at least on a quarterly basis and be implemented within the next year.

Industry-Wide Best Practices

Best practices within the U.S. Postal Service and the Industry should be adopted system wide.  

The committee found a number of U.S. Postal Service best practices that advance the standard of remittance processing. In particular, the committee was impressed with the U.S. Postal Service’s document Best Practices for Processing Remittance Mail. It is a comprehensive document that incorporates the strategies being successfully deployed at better remittance processing facilities such as Atlanta and Chicago. The committee recommends the following best practices be instituted as mandatory for key remittance facilities.

Recommendations

1.	An important best practice is the so-called “National Firm Holdout” program, which separates remittance mail from other First-Class Mail at origin facilities. Without significant commitment to this program at origination facilities, remittance mail cannot be prioritized at destination facilities. 

2.	For payment processors another key best practice that should be adopted is to self-organize with other processors in a given geographic area and meet regularly with the U.S. Postal Service to discuss regional remittance issues. Separate individual meetings should also be held to negotiate individual processor needs.  

3.	Best practices suggest that industry organizations create some metrics to share with the U.S. Postal Service to assist in better operational alignment. If Phoenix-Hecht data is purchased by industry organizations, that diagnostic information (which is different from the data that the U.S. Postal Service obtains directly from Phoenix-Hecht) should be shared with the U.S. Postal Service for each survey. The processor, at a minimum, should record actual mail delivery volume at each delivery (number of containers, weight, or perhaps another volume indicator). This data should be analyzed over time sufficiently to create expected patterns of delivery, so that when there is deviation from expectation, the U.S. Postal Service can be immediately informed. An even better practice is to also sample mail times into the processing facility. This can be accomplished by sampling one to three envelopes from each tray of mail and recording the mailing date, origination location, and receipt date. Some overall measurement of this process should be routinely reported to the U.S. Postal Service. Unfortunately, this process does not produce a very good statistical sample and therefore creates our “actionable” comment in the measurement key issue. 

4.	Another best practice identified by the committee was the communication of expectations and requirements by the processor to the U.S. Postal Service. Mutually satisfactory outcomes are more probable when both parties understand the other’s staffing, commitments, and the costs and benefits of a different delivery model.

5.	Finally, the committee identified as a best practice some type of courier monitoring system. As these are still improving currently, it is not possible to point to one as a standard. The goal appears to be the real-time reporting of how much mail was available at the postal facility at each scheduled courier pickup, how much mail was actually removed by the courier, and when. With such data, processors can have a reasonable expectation against which to measure courier performance. It is evident that some of what is labeled in the Industry as poor postal performance is in fact substandard courier performance. 
New Products and Services Sub-Committee

SUB-COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Cliff Whittle, Director, Billing & Payment Services, American Express, Chairperson
Mark Stevens, President, OPEX Corporation
Joan Argentino, Specialist, Remittance Processing, Verizon
Les Young, Sr. Vice President Business Product Management, Bank of America
Charles Kelly Sr., First Vice President Processing Services, Union Federal Bank

ASSESSMENT

The continued consumer adoption of electronic channels is gradually reducing the need for First-Class Mail to mail bills and payments.   Some remittance processors are receiving half of their volume as electronic payments. This trend will continue, as the population becomes more comfortable using computers for personal business transactions.  In addition, banks and credit card companies continue to improve electronic payment services and encourage their customers to migrate to non-paper solutions. This trend poses a threat to revenue and corporate relationships between the U.S. Postal Service and major billing and remittance organizations.  

Postal rate increases coupled with the perception of poor mail performance will drive further adoption of electronic channels for both corporate and individual bill payers. As this occurs, the unit cost associated with processing paper-based remittances will grow due to fewer overall transactions.  This and other trends are driving billing and remittance organizations to think creatively about how to manage costs. While on the one hand organizations see the value of varied payment alternatives for bill payers, on the other hand, this creates a more complex operation for billing and remittance organizations.  These organizations view the U.S. Postal Service as a potential partner in solving business problems that have resulted from major industry shifts. 

The U.S. Postal Service should therefore consider new and creative sources of volume and revenue with opportunities to improve performance specifically associated with remittance processing.  Opportunities exist for the U.S. Postal Service to better understand the specific needs of the remittance mail processors in order to help drive business results.

SUB-COMMITTEE GOAL

1.	Identify and prioritize specific new products and service ideas.

KEY CONSIDERATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The Industry views the U.S. Postal Service as uniquely capable of developing new solutions to address needs of billing and remittance organizations. 

The committee evaluated a number of product ideas during its 12-month charter and undertook a survey. The pages that follow outline the most popular concepts and some of the feedback collected from the survey.

Survey Results and Recommendations

Methodology
The committee brainstormed to develop a list of potential products and services.  All ideas were considered valid and possible.  Needs were identified but specific solutions were not.  A survey was then distributed to the entire Remittance Mail Advisory Committee and the results were tabulated.  Additional individuals in the Industry were later consulted for their feedback on the aforementioned concepts.  Further survey forms were provided to members of The Association for Work Process Improvement (TAWPI) at their annual forum in July, 2005.  Additionally, regional mail processor forums in Chicago and Atlanta were used as distribution sites for survey forms for review by local processors.  Results were analyzed to narrow the list of recommended ideas.

Note that the committee realizes that not all survey respondents would be the final decision makers in the companies they represent.  The survey does however provide a general indication of interests that the committee believes the U.S. Postal Service should further evaluate for feasibility.

New Product and Service Concepts

1. Web-based Mail Re-Direction Service 	
Recent natural disasters and terrorist attacks resulted in the suspension of services in the affected geographic areas.  While some processors have multiple sites for built-in redundancy and have contracted with disaster recovery vendors to minimize the impact of these events, it is difficult to “switch” mail delivery from one geographical area to another.  In many cases, these delivery points represent caller box service or unique ZIP Codes.  The industry endorses a service that would allow remittance processors (for various reasons) to have mail diverted from one address to another via the web.  The key concept would incorporate “re-direction” at the point of entry.  The service would eliminate the need for mail to reach the “addressed” destination and then be redirected.  This would minimize any increases to mail float and improve the revenue stream of the remittance-processing customer. 

From discussions with USPS, we believe it is technically feasible to implement an address diversion on a daily basis, which would meet the industry’s needs. If the system can be that flexible, it would allow processors to utilize it when capacity constraints have been exceeded at certain locations for brief time-periods.

Payment:  The industry would accept both subscription level and per-usage fees to support this service.	

2. More Localized Customer Advocacy Specific to Remittance Mail	
Although a National Account Manager already exists in most cases, that resource may naturally be more attuned to origination issues and clearly cannot be fully versed on each problem that may arise at the local plant level.  The committee applauds efforts of the USPS underway to create a network of Remittance Mail Coordinators at the Area, District, and Plant levels.  We further endorse USPS efforts to establish District Remittance Mail Councils.  While such councils exist in several locations, we believe that the presence of such a council should be a requirement to achieve the certification proposed in the Metrics Committee section.  We also note that such Councils are endorsed in the Communications Committee section of this report.

Nothing harms the reputation of the USPS from the remittance community’s perspective more than interfacing with USPS personnel who are not well versed in remittance issues. The industry fundamentally believes that “remittance mail is different” and wants to see that reflected from the USPS.  The industry sees the USPS efforts detailed above as a necessary and welcome step. 

Payment: While the industry applauds the efforts, it would expect no fees associated with the Councils and Coordinators.	

3. Subscription-Based Website 	
A subscription-based website would be designed to be a one-stop-shop for billers’ and payment processors’ postal needs. Although there is a web site currently available, this concept takes the offering to a higher level by adding functionality such as mail tracking with problem notification and mail re-direction service. Uses might include: 
•	Mail problem reporting system where customers could report and log issues and are given an estimated turn around time. Access by the Coordinators envisioned in concept 2 above would also be desirable.
•	Mail redirection service, as described in concept 1 above, which would allow the customer to redirect mail when problems occur, and which could be used for disaster recovery. 
•	A remittance mail database that would include an 'Everything about Me' profile where the customer could view company statistics and payment acceptance. 
•	Futuristically, in-bound mail projection and tracking that would assist remittance mail processors with staffing estimates would provide huge value (see concept 5A below).  Although there are current feasibility issues associated with this idea, it is on virtually every processor’s wish list.

This was the most popular concept surveyed. The committee is not surprised by the popularity of this concept because it addresses the often talked about communications issue between the U.S. Postal Service and its constituency. It is highly recommended that the U.S. Postal Service further explore this concept as an offering.

Payment: Due to the enhanced service features envisioned for this site, processors would expect to pay an annual fee.	

4. U.S. Postal Service Courier Service                                                                                                      	
The U.S. Postal Service is a trusted courier of mail, is aware of the timing of mail at the distribution center, and is perceived by the industry as an ideal final courier of remittance mail.

This committee is aware of the Postal Service’s concerns and objections to this idea.  We are aware that the USPS is reluctant to displace existing services and that it is not currently staffed or equipped for the seven-day, round-the-clock delivery schedule required by many processors.  We also understand that the postal labor cost structure makes it very difficult to offer the service at the prices paid to existing providers.

And yet, in a bit of a surprise to the committee, this service placed second highest in demand from our survey.  We therefore include it to provide feedback on how strong the USPS “trustworthy” perception is within the industry.  We also note that many issues of “Postal” performance actually arise from discrepancies when the courier arrives at the processing center with less than anticipated volumes, or perhaps not at all.  The industry perceives value in having single accountability in the delivery of mail. 

The industry further extends the “trustworthy” perception to the USPS in issues of payment security.  The committee learned of several instances where the USPS delivers secured trays with sleeves that are strapped and/or shrink wrapped for safe transit to the remittance processing site. 

Payment: Customers in our survey frequently mentioned that a USPS courier service would need to be competitively priced and comparably timed relative to current providers.  This will unfortunately do little to alleviate USPS concerns over cost structure competitiveness.	

5. Longer-Term (futuristic) Product Ideas	

For the purposes of this report, the ideas below are currently infeasible.  The committee includes them because of their potential to substantially impact the industry.

A) Receipt Volume Forecasting:

All processors utilize a variable work-force component.  There is huge industry value in being able to tune that component more closely to actual workload.  The industry envisions a service where all inducted mail from across the country would be projected to a specific processor.  The use of postal standards for the projection is believed sufficiently accurate.  To begin, daily projections would also be sufficient (historical trends could be used by the processor to project intra-day arrival).  Labor cost savings would justify rather substantial subscription fees.

B) USPS Image Extraction or Payment Intercept.
The overriding objective of the remittance processing provider is to reduce the amount of time between the customer payment and the posting and depositing of the payment.  If the U.S. Postal Service could extract and capture the images of documents (and checks) contained within remittance mail at high-volume originating mail facilities, it would conceptually provide a national overnight payment collection service.  Essentially, the payment would be intercepted at origination, and images of checks and documents would be transmitted to the intended recipient for posting and deposit.

We do not trivialize the technological impediments involved with this product.  There are currently issues of compatibility among all the various providers of document and check images.  Legal and liability issues abound.  But new laws governing the conversion of a check to a substitute check (Check 21), more prominent check-image exchange among banks over the next few years and check conversion to an ACH transaction (ARC and so-called back-office conversion) make this at least conceptually possible today.  The reduction in footprint costs involved to fully image all documents included with a payment also improves the feasibility of this concept.  It is believed that one or more third-party vendors would have interest in providing such a service if it is a business that the USPS does not desire.

C) Automate the process of Business Reply Mail to a Lockbox Address:
Current issues with Business Reply Mail (BRM) include the inability to be directed to unique ZIP codes (bank Lockbox). Use of Business Reply Mail for business-to-business payments of sufficient value would increase if usage did not delay payment receipt for accounting.  The committee is unsure of the revenue gains to the USPS, however, there is strong indication that there would be significant cost avoidance for USPS by automating the accounting process. 	

CONCLUSIONS

The Remittance Mail Advisory Committee was a worthwhile endeavor because it delivered several things:

1.	Valuable information
2.	Cooperation across industry components
3.	Opportunities for improvement
4.	A forum to discuss the future

Valuable Information

While every member relies heavily on the U.S. Postal Service, not many know nor understand the process for collecting and delivering mail. Many Committee members were totally unaware of the technologies in place to transport and process mail, to check for biohazard safety, and to collect and disseminate information. Tours of U.S. Postal Service facilities provided insight into how differently each plant is staffed and operated. Those tours also made Committee members better aware of the reasons why variances exist in service levels. Members also learned that some industry expectations exceed U.S. Postal Service capabilities. In the end, the committee was impressed by how much more capable the U.S. Postal Service is than originally thought.  

Cooperation Across Industry Components

This forum brought a broad spectrum of facets and companies, including large and small financial institutions, print and mail vendors, remittance processing vendors, consultants, and industry organizations.  More impressive is the collective profile of the businesses represented on the Committee. Many of the businesses represented are market leaders. Having such high caliber organizations and top-level executives participate ensured that recommended solutions were diverse enough to address the varied issues experienced in the industry.  

Opportunities for Improvement

The three areas of improvement addressed by the sub-committees are sufficiently covered to provide initial recommendations. However, they in no way represent a final, all-inclusive analysis. We are certain that as the areas of improvements receive more attention, other key issues will surface that warrant significant attention.

Forum for Discussion

An important added benefit of the committee’s face-to-face meetings was the forum it provided to discuss the future of the industry. The forward-looking considerations include possible new sites for payment processing; developing marketplace conditions which will trigger a more rapid transition to electronic remittances, and factors that could slow the transition to electronic remittances.  

The committee also discussed in detail the impact of hurricane Katrina and what that means to processing in the state of Florida.  We looked at the impact of building and moving remittance processing sites to new locations and how that affects the U.S. Postal Service.  Additionally, the group identified where the most “remittance-focused” postal sites are located in the United States. We began to evaluate why these postal sites perform so well and how their performance could be duplicated across the postal network.

The committee discussed bio-hazards and their potential to drive migration away from paper-based communications if there were such an incident.  The Industry has begun to discuss such scenarios and the committee recommends that the U.S. Postal Service address this potential threat by considering imaging solutions in postal processing facilities. 

Similarly, information theft at financial institutions and the exposure of credit card and social security numbers have caused some corporations to rethink the migration from paper to electronic.  Some companies are imposing strict security measures on vendors who hold and maintain data.  Severe penalties and the public attention that arise from these events force a re-evaluation of electronic solutions by risk adverse corporations.  While the committee agreed that nothing will stop the transition from paper to electronic, information security related events will slow the migration.

The one over-arching lesson learned was the enormity of the U.S. Postal Service, and that despite its size, the agency operates well overall.

Challenges

Managing the Remittance Mail Advisory Committee (RMAC) had its challenges too. One of the most difficult challenges of this process was coordinating the schedules of 14very high level professionals. There were various levels of personnel involved in the meetings. The titles for the participants ranged from Manager to President/CEO. For example, one member was engaged in work-related travel that greatly limited that member’s participation. Another member changed organizations. 

There were also the normal personal and work-related challenges. A number of individuals could not attend nor participate after a few months. Most had challenges staying updated between the meeting sessions. One individual selected for the committee was not able to participate after making the initial commitment to do so.

While these types of scheduling issues can be expected, future committee efforts should take these challenges into consideration in the planning phase.

Expectations

There are four expectations that the committee has of the U.S. Postal Service as a result of its work:

1.	Listen to the Industry  
2.	Respond to the recommendations provided by the Committee
3.	Act immediately to address “the low hanging fruit”  
4.	Build upon this effort

Listen 

A great deal of time and effort was spent (at the participant’s own expense) to attend committee meetings, collate the reports, conduct surveys, participate in speaking engagements, etc. While the total number of individuals that made up the committee was small, the entire billing and payments industry was represented. It is therefore the committee’s expectation that the U.S. Postal Service will listen to the Industry’s feedback as collected by the RMAC work and by industry comments appended to this report. It is expected that the appropriate U.S. Postal Service executives will examine thoroughly the information provided in the reports and seriously consider the Industry’s needs and requests.  

The Committee understands that in order for the Industry to operate successfully, it needs the support of the U.S. Postal Service. After assembling this group, the Committee better understands how dependent the U.S. Postal Service is upon the Industry, as well. Upon further review of the recommendations it should be evident that the Committee sought win-win solutions for both the Industry and the U.S. Postal Service. It is therefore the committee’s expectation that the recommendations will be given serious consideration.

Respond

The Committee expects that the U.S. Postal Service will provide feedback on the contents of this report. It is very important to the Industry that the U.S. Postal Service change the image it has of being insensitive to remittance mailer needs. Providing feedback to the RMAC will go a long way to improve the U.S. Postal Service’s image. It would demonstrate that the U.S. Postal Service recognizes the need to better work together nationally with the remittance industry—a few highly cooperative postal districts are not enough.  

The committee believes that the credibility of its findings is very high. This platform enabled an unbiased, industry perspective that has identified specific concerns, and enables the U.S. Postal Service to concentrate its resources in the appropriate areas. As the U.S. Postal Service responds to the areas of improvement identified in this report, it will encourage others to participate in the future.

The U.S. Postal Service’s response should be disseminated through multiple channels and at multiple levels. Area Vice Presidents, District Managers, and their staff should be made aware of this effort, if only to stimulate internal postal interest around meeting with local remittance processors and understanding needs. Recommendations should be communicated at the National Postal Forums and other mailer conferences. While many are attended by billers, some remittance processors are on hand as well. Remittance processing forums (such as global Concepts and TAWPI) should also be top considerations for communicating more about this effort.  

Act

If the U.S. Postal Service takes the position that it will implement one or more of the recommendations provided by the committee, it should do so quickly. Some of the items on this list are perceived by the Industry as “quick fixes” that will benefit both the U. S. Postal Service and the Industry. The committee believes that it is vital that the momentum started by the formation of the RMAC is maintained. Developing a list of short-term, mid-term, and long- term objectives should be finalized and acted upon by both the U.S. Postal Service and the Industry.
Implementing any number of items will further strengthen ties between the U.S. Postal Service and the Industry. The cooperation between the Industry and U.S. Postal Service will gain credibility and stimulate more ideas.  

Build

The Remittance Mail Advisory Committee represents a foundation upon which more should be built. This effort should be maintained in some form or fashion. It is less important to the Industry how remittance mail is improved, than that it simply be improved. Better Communications, Products and Services, and Performance Metrics are a good step in the right direction, but the Industry has many other ideas and concerns that could and should be addressed. Ultimately, the U.S. Postal Service will win by identifying new and interesting streams of revenue, improving customer service that is relevant and meaningful to the customer, and fine-tuning communications for a two-way flow of information to and from the Industry.

Committee Feedback & Self Assessment

This unedited feedback was provided by several members.

Member A

The remittance industry needs to know what the Post Office is doing and the direction it is taking for the very same reasons outlined above.  Technology is changing very quickly, and processors need to know how it fits into the U.S. Postal Service Operations.  We spent a good deal of time working on these relationships, but there is much more to be done.  We spoke of standards and metrics.  They need to be in place soon to make a level playing field in this changing environment.  Communications to the remittance industry and to the U.S. Postal Service is critically important to make a working relationship.  Working together, we can devise operations, procedures, and products that work best for all. 

As for the committee's working environment, face-to-face meetings are the only way to go.  Everybody is too busy to do "homework".  I even had a difficult time getting the simple survey completed, even after multiple emails to users and presentations at our conferences and meetings.  It worked very well having postal representatives at the meetings.  I do think the sub-committees needed to share their thoughts in more detail with the rest of the committee at the end of the sessions.  This might even require a couple two-day sessions with somebody available to do the recording of the results.  When you think about the sessions, we only got about 6 hours of work time in at each session; not nearly enough for the task at hand.  After the hard work of establishing guidelines and some of the activities are accomplished, the meetings could be cut back.

And the bottom line is how the Post Office receives the recommendations.  Is it all going to be worth all the efforts expended?

Member B

As for what worked and didn't, in our sub-committee, with only four people (two of whom weren't processors), we really didn't have adequate breadth to attack our topic as well as we could have.  We also had the problem that when the chairman (me) didn't provide adequate and motivating leadership, our progress came to an abrupt stop.  I think the time commitment caught some of us by surprise (there was real work to do to get on top of our issues).  I think next time Charles (overall chair) should insist on a minimum number of sub-committee conference calls and never let more than 3 weeks pass without a conference call.
 
In the end, I believe I will be proud of my association with the group.  In some sense, I think the group made fairly impressive contributions toward improving the state of the industry.
As for the committee, I think what was beneficial is the realization by those in attendance that remittance-processing information is a two-way street.  The Post Office needs to know what is going on in the remittance industry; where the action is; what mergers and consolidations are going on; what new products are being introduced that affect mail volumes; and what they need to know to "take care of" their customers.  Mail volumes are going down and will continue to do so.  The Post Office needs to work with remittance processors to become more efficient and cost effective so those shrinking volumes - which cause higher unit costs - can be handled efficiently and effectively with the least cost.  This committee was a start in that direction.

Member C

What worked well - Good networking and learning.  Learning how the U.S. Postal Service processes remittance mail. What didn't - Difficult to get sub committee together outside of meetings. If this continues this could be scheduled and expectations set around participation.  Concerns remain about what action the U.S. Postal Service will take as a result of the committee's work.
 
Member D

I really learned a lot from the networking and there were some very talented people on this team. You also had some very busy people on this team. More could have been accomplished if people understood the commitment needed up front. No requirements were set up front for meetings with the sub-committees. Although the face-to-face meetings were good for relationship building and much did get accomplished during those times, it was unplanned travel expense and not everyone could be there. 

Many of our customers are using credit cards to make their payments. They are also paying check by phone and making on-line payments. The Post office will lose this business. I don’t feel the Post Office really understands or cares about our concerns regarding reducing mail float and problems with communication with U.S. Postal Service. The people from the U.S. Postal Service on the committee understood our concerns but knew it would be a major culture change for the U.S. Postal Service to treat remittance mail differently than any other 1st class mail. 

Member E

I think my lessons will depend upon the PO's willingness to initiate change based upon our recommendations.  I will tell you that I enjoyed the working sessions and learning the perspective of different representatives.  

Member F
In my opinion the group took seriously what needed to be done, more effectively when we were together then when we got back to the office. I think the groups could have been slightly larger. I would strongly recommend that the group continue if the PO management is supportive.

Appendix A – RMAC Guidelines

Remittance Mail Advisory Committee Guidelines	
Committee	Volunteer membership, selected by U.S. Postal Service
Ad Hoc for the specific tasks outlined in the mandate
	
Approx. Size	Limited to 14 members
	
Committee’s Mission	Achieve improved business and operational alignment between the U.S. Postal Service and Remittance industry.
	
Goals and Objectives	Provide short and long-term recommendations for improving mail float and meeting emerging needs in the remittance industry.
	
Position Descriptions	Qualifications: Representatives should have specific knowledge and expertise in remittance mail processing operations. In addition, members should work for an organization that is a stakeholder in the remittance industry and represent one of the major remittance mail industries as outlined in the overview. Members must also be willing to serve on the committee for one year and attend four (4) one-day meetings in Washington, D.C.; traveling at their own expense. Members will have an initial and continuing obligation to disclose any conflicts of interests.  Responsibilities: The committee will have Chair and General Member designations.
	
Meetings	Meeting frequency: Four (4) face-to-face meetings during calendar year 2005
Meeting location: Washington, D.C.
Agenda & Minutes: Meeting agendas will be developed and distributed by the elected Chair; Minutes will be recorded and distributed by the Chair.
	
Sub-Committees	Sub-committees will be developed on an as-needed basis.
	
Reporting	One progress report after 6th month (as needed); one final report after 12th month.
	
Industry Participation	Although the committee has been limited to fourteen members, remittance industry organizations not participating on the committee will have an opportunity to comment on the final report generated by the group.
	
Communication	Primary Postal Contact: Chandra A. Briggman, Remittance Mail Program Manager.
Primary Committee Contact:  Chair,  Charles Kelly, Wausau Financial Services
	
Evaluation	Committee self-evaluation will be conducted after 12th month of work.
	
Staff Support	Staff Support & Resources: Limited U.S. Postal Service support for administrative needs. Abridged copies of U.S. Postal Service Policies and Procedures will be made available. Staff participation: Product Management and Operations staff. 
	
Work Plan	The work plan to accomplish the group’s objectives will be developed by committee. In addition, individual task and member responsibilities will be determined by the group.
	
Timeline	A timeline for tasks will be developed jointly by the chair and committee members. Completion date is December 2005.	

Page Intentionally Left Blank
Appendix B – RMAC Members

Name	Title	Organization	City 	State	ZIP	Email	Phone	
Kitty Turner	Division Manager, Remittance Mail	Allstate Insurance	Hudson	 OH 	44237	ACBGH@allstate.com 	330-656-6646 	
Cliff Whittle	Director, Billing & Payment Services	American Express	Weston	FL	33331-3626	Cliff.h.whittle@aexp.com	954-375-5003 	
Les Young	Vice President, Wholesale Lockbox	Bank of America	San Francisco	CA 	94104	les.young@bankofamerica.com	415-622-0363	
Loretta Rosso	Director of Payment Processing	Comcast Cable	Philadelphia	PA 	19102	loretta_rosso@cable.comcast.com	215-981-7364	
Don Gagne	Director Remittance Processing	Discover Financial	Riverwoods	IL	60015	dongagne@discoverfinancial.com	224-405-4454	
Steve Nugent	First Vice President Lockbox Network Operations	Mellon Global Financial	Pittsburgh 	PA 	15262-0001	nugent.s@mellon.com	781-279-0390 	
Mark Stevens	CEO	OPEX	Moorestown	 NJ 	8057	mstevens@opex.com	856-727-1100	
Charles Gunn	Manager, Remittance Operations	 PECO Energy	Philadelphia	PA 	19101-8699	charles.gunn@peco-energy.com	215-841-6320	
Lex Litton	Vice President	Phoenix-Hecht	Research Triangle Park	NC 	27709	lex@phoenixhecht.com	919-541-9339	
Bob Craig	SVP, Business Development	REMITCO	Wilmington	DE 	19809	Bob.Craig@firstdatacorp.com	302-791-7021	
Dana Gould	Vice President	TAWPI	Boston	MA	2110	dgould@tawpi.org	617-426-1167	
Joan Argentino	Manager, Remittance Operations	Verizon	Cockeysville	MD	21030	joan.e.argentino@verizon.com	410-393-0845	
Charles Kelly	First Vice President	Union Federal Bank	Indianapolis	IN	46226	charles.kelly@unionfedbank.com	317-822-1303	

Appendix C – Sub-Committee Agendas

Communications Sub-Committee

Goals:
•	Define how the remittance industry and U.S. Postal Service can more effectively communicate
•	Recommend tactics for better communication between post office sites
•	Advise the U.S. Postal Service on important industry trends affecting the business of remittance processing

Key Areas of Communications
Industry 
•	Identify the items the Industry wants the U.S. Postal Service to understand: 
o	Who the customers are
o	Communications strategy (how, what, why, where, and when)
•	Recommend how the U.S. Postal Service should recognize and demonstrate differences and the relationship between outbound and inbound mail
•	Advise the U.S. Postal Service on how to better educate (upfront and ongoing) the Account Managers and Business Service Network representatives on the Industry to ensure they understand the business.  

Service Performance
•	Define what aspect of service performance the U.S. Postal Service should communicate to the Industry, how it should be communicated to the Industry and how often it should be communicated.
•	Define other postal  “activities and results” that Industry would like communicated and what feedback mechanism is appropriate to gather insights from the Industry   (operational changes, planning and timelines)
•	Recommend revisions to the current “customer issue” protocol (define notification process / timeline)

Ongoing Information Dissemination
•	Define the constituent groups that make up the Industry and what specific information should be communicated to each group. Who gets the message (industry side and U.S. Postal Service side), who is right for distribution, maybe Dave Williams (U.S. Postal Service) or maybe TAWPI (U.S. Postal Service to Industry).
•	Define the channels and specific media the U.S. Postal Service should use to communicate to the Industry

Performance Metric Sub-Committee

Goals:
Identify U.S. Postal Service and industry processing standards and best practices
•	Define what the Remittance Industry needs are relative to performance metrics
•	Recommend an improve end-to-end performance measurement tool(s)
•	Advise the U.S. Postal Service on how it may improve and maintain consistency between it major facilities

Key Areas of Performance Metrics

•	Document current tools and measurements in use to monitor performance in the industry
•	Document and map the U.S. Postal Service remittance mail delivery process
•	Identify best practices within the U.S. Postal Service and industry
•	Identify and categorize measurement needs for the industry
•	Recommend specific measurement tools for each area of measurement needed by the Industry
•	Recommend a reporting mechanism(s)  
Evaluate the operational alignment between postal processing and industry processing. Recommend specific tools and measurements that should be used
Advise on appropriate documentation for performance measurement for remittance processing from Industry and postal perspectives
Advise the U.S. Postal Service on a certification process for designating a postal plant as an important remittance-processing center.

Methodology: 
•	Each committee is expected to define its approach for defining its recommendations
Interview each RMAC member that processes significant payment volume to determine what metrics, tools, and possible best practices are currently in place. 

Deliverable: At minimum a report outlining all of the above.

New Products and Services Sub-Committee

Goals:

•	Define a process and mechanism(s) through which new product and service ideas may be captured from the industry
•	Identify categories of industry need(s) and general solutions that meet those needs
•	Identify and prioritize specific new products and service ideas 

Key Areas of New Products and Services

•	Recommend a general process of routinely gathering new product and service ideas from the Industry
•	Recommend specific mechanism(s) through which new product and service ideas may be captured from the Industry
•	Define what the Industry views as product management. Recommend aspects of product management needed by the Industry
•	Recommend how the U.S. Postal Service may raise the visibility of its current product management effort
•	Define an improved relationship management concept [?]
•	Identify key areas of need in the industry that the U.S. Postal Service is uniquely equipped to meet
•	Advise the U.S. Postal Service on the use of current and emerging technology can meet industry needs (communicate on an ongoing basis technology used by the U.S. Postal Service so that the Industry may consider applications to payments business)
•	Recommend and prioritize specific new products and service needs based on customer demand, and development difficulty, and feasibility.

Methodology: 
•	Each committee is expected to define its approach for defining its recommendations
•	Written and verbal survey of Advisory Committee members

Deliverable: At minimum a report outlining all of the above.

Appendix D – Communications Channels

Publications
•	Today Magazine
•	Leachy Report
•	Electronic Payments Newsletter
•	Mail Solutions
•	AFP Newsletter 

Article topics
•	Escalation procedures for problems with PO (missed delivery, damaged mail, late mail, etc.)
•	Importance of notifying BSN of mail issues for database and tracking
•	Importance of notifying U.S. Postal Service of Operational changes
•	Managing a Customer Move; Structure of the U.S. Postal Service: How it affects your business; 
•	Partnering with your Local U.S. Postal Service on Holiday Strategy (transportation, scheduling); 
•	Remittance Mail Structure: How is it done;
•	Remittance Mail Operations Coordinator; 
•	How to have a voice with the local postal office;
•	The Need for an Industry Voice to affect change (why the need; government agency responds to big voice)

Industry Conferences
•	National Postal Forum
•	TAWPI Annual Conference
•	Major Mailers Associations
•	Remittance Processing Council (RP Council)
•	Global Concepts
•	Districts PCC (Postal Customer Councils)
•	Bankers Administration Institute (TransPay)
•	Association of Financial Professional (Treasury Management Association)
•	

No.	Appendix E - Concept Descriptions	
# 1	U.S. Postal Service image extraction of incoming remittances	
# 2	Includes all mail that doesn't have to pass multiple times such as white mail or correspondence and non-remittance related PO Boxes.  This might result in a discount or rebate being realized, or a credit to the account to use to offset outbound mail.	
# 3	Sample uses include:
 a) Inbound mail projections & tracking (automatic, real-time mail volume & est. delivery notifications.)   Can be used for staffing estimates                                                                                                                                                        
 b) Mail Problem Reporting System (customers report and log issues and are given est. turn-around time for solution)
 c) Self direct mail on the website (ability to redirect mail when problems occur and for disaster recovery)
 d) Remit mail database (’Everything about me’ profile; able to view company stats & payment acceptance)                                                                                                                                            This might take the place of CONFIRM, which uses a bar code and doesn’t apply to all types of mail at present time.  	
#4	Develop an ongoing face-to-face relationship with local post offices.  This might take the form of a customer advocate team, based on structured meetings designed to iron out concerns and develop new procedures.  A report card could be devised to track issues.  	
#5	Mailers have the ability to re-route mail as needed to other ZIP codes or zones via a web accessible form	
#6	For white mail or non-standard mail, a MICR reader could be placed on reader sorters. This would allow the U.S. Postal Service to get the remittance mail into the proper work stream.	
#7	Develop an industry standard envelope. Because certain sizes run better, this would promote operational efficiencies, and induce mailers to receive mail back that runs best.  A discount might also be realized as the U.S. Postal Service realizes operational cost savings	
#8	Payment acceptances at U.S. Postal Service retail locations. Expedited to centralized processing centers, arrangements could be made for all mail in one site.  In conjunction with this concept bills could be paid at U.S. Postal Service locations.	
#9	IRD printers could be in U.S. Postal Service locations for printing and delivery of checks.  The nature of the business lends itself to this concept because of the many locations of postal offices.	
#10	The U.S. Postal Service as courier service to deliver the mail directly to remittance centers as it becomes available.	
#11	The post office would supply secure trays with sleeves that are strapped and shrink wrapped for secure transit.	
#12	Assign ZIP codes to customers that could be portable as they relocate processing facilities geographically. ZIP would not be permanently tied to any one city or state.	

Comments on the New Products and Services Survey 
October 2005	
1.   U.S. Postal Service Extraction (incoming remittance)
This concept suggests that an image could be collected and transmitted to the addressed receiver of the remittance, eliminating the delivery requirement of physical mail. A number of issues come to mind.  First the application could be conceived to work on a post card reply format, recognizing that there are literally thousands of different formats and image areas to be concerned with in that process.  More importantly however is the fact that most "remittance" mail involves an envelope to carry the cash, check or credit card data.  Automatically this leads to a need for the U.S. Postal Service to conduct mail opening, image capture, remittance balancing, check encoding, deposit preparations -- and all the other clerical functions needed to complete the remittance process.  In general -- this task is probably underestimated and will not be widely accepted, if offered.	
2.  Work-sharing in-bound as outbound for incoming mail to save room or passes.
The expression of this concept is not quite clear enough to be able to respond. It seems to me that the type of mail is less important than the volume of mail, in term of reducing the number of passes to finalize a sort into a numbers. The current high volume numbers are "first pass kills" on the sort, with the balance of the numbers organized for a second pass, sequencing sort of the lower volumes.	
3.  Subscription-based, technology-driven website to communicate mission-critical data between remittance centers and USPS.
The sample a) is an interesting and worthwhile idea, to my view. I can see that it would have some problems, if reporting the 'check is in the mail', from origination, since there would be little data to discriminate first, second, later readings. Still it might be a valuable tool initially, if it just reporting the 'check is in town', for next delivery.	
4.   District Customer Advocacy Team
Local U.S. Postal Service and Customer 'Face to Face' discussion is, and always has been, a wonderful idea to smooth the rough spots in the mail process. My experience has been that the value of these discussion's value rise and fall over time, largely dependent upon the level of interest and commitment given this process by the designated postal representatives -- which also change, over time	
5.  Mailers have the ability to re-route mail as needed to other ZIP Codes and zones via a web accessible form.
I'm not certain how this would be of benefit on a routine basis. Of course, if I had a branch office operation in downtown New Orleans now it would probably be a valuable tool....	
6.  A MICR reader for white mail or non-standard mail, could be placed on the reader sorters. This would allow the U.S. Postal Service to get the remittance mail into the proper work stream.
An interesting idea; I'd like to hear more about the implementation vision and operational impact of the additional separations.	
7.  Develop an industry standard envelope. Because certain sizes run better this would promote operational efficiencies, and induce mailers to receive mail back that runs best. A discount might be realized as the U.S. Postal Service realizes operational cost saving.
This would be a very difficult proposal to implement for a number of reasons. Trying one I would speculate the best sorter performance is achieved running a 3 1/2" and 5" envelope -- more pieces per minute. But this would be a bad standard to settle on since a check can not be enclosed without folding.	
8. Payment acceptance at U.S. Postal Service retail locations. Expedited to centralized processing centers, arrangements could be made for all mail in one site. In conjunction with this concept bills could be paid at U.S. Postal Service locations.
There is a core good idea here for certain applications. Currently I could choose to make payments for utilities or local phone service at my local grocery. The postal retail office could set up the same function. However that is a service that has a limited number of merchants involved, making it local and controllable. The many-to-many relationships that would occur when all post offices could collect for all merchants, on a national basis, makes this program more difficult to imagine how it might be managed.	
9.  IRD Printers could be in U.S. Postal Service locations for printing and delivery of checks. The nature of the business lends itself to this concept because of the many locations of postal offices.
I'm translating IRD to be "Image Replacement Documents." If true the concept here is not clear to me. Is this some attempt to close the loop on the idea expressed in point 1? Where did the image initiate? Where do the printed documents destinate?	
10.  The U.S. Postal Service as courier service to deliver the mail directly to remittance centers as it becomes available.
This idea has merit, given the size of the delivery fleet used for the service's primary functions and the probability that it has excess capacity. Permitting postal customers to take advantage of this transportation would seem logical.	
11.  The post office would supply secure trays with sleeves that are strapped and shrink wrapped for secure transit.
I presume this idea is related to those situations which routinely process cash bearing mail. In this case there is probably some advantage to making it more difficult to pilfer a couple envelopes in transit. On the other hand it makes it easier to identify the correct tray to pilfer -- in total -- during transit.	
12.  Assign ZIP Codes to customers that could be portable as they relocate processing facilities geographically. ZIP would not be permanently tied to any one city or state.
Short of eliminating the need to print new reply envelopes when the desired delivery location changes I am not certain what function this idea provides. Sorry I missed this conversation.