Postal Digest – News from Correos, Swiss Post, Latvian Post, Bolivia Post
More news headlines from around the postal world, including an ecommerce deal for Correos, money transfer expansion at Latvian Post, and an air mail deal at Bolivia Post…
Correos signs ecommerce partnership
Spain’s Correos has signed a partnership agreement with the Andalusian Electronic Commerce Association (ANDCE) to allow association members discounts on two-to-three day delivery.
The deal aims to help e-retailers save money, improve the quality of delivery services from the region to the rest of Spain, and encourage consumers from across Spain to make purchases from Andalusian websites.
Members of the ANDCE group are now being encouraged to sign up for the 48/72 Ecommerce Postal Parcel service to access special prices for their ecommerce deliveries.
Swiss Post redesigns pickup authorisation service
Swiss Post has redesigned its authorisation service, which allows designated third parties to pick up mail from post offices on behalf of recipients.
The new system can be used for a registration fee of CHF 36 when an account is opened at the counter, CHF 24 when registering online. Swiss Post said this week that last month it cleaned up its database of 650,000 customers previously signed up to the authorisation service, deleting a third of the authorisations that are no longer wanted.
The postal operator said it is now developing additional authorisation alternatives for introduction in 2013, including an “occasional” option for people picking up items on a one-off basis.
Meelis Atonen to continue as Estonian Post chairman
Estonian Post’s chairman, Meelis Atonen, has been re-elected to continue in the position he has held since 2007.
Atonen, 55, is a former government economics and communications minister and entrepreneur who is also currently a board member of foreign exchange firm Tavid and a representative of the Estonian Nordic Investment Bank control committee. He said the financial results at Estonian Post were going in the right direction after it achieved a EUR 1.2m profit last year.
Atonen said: “I am happy to continue as chairman of Estonian Post. The company has ambitious goals – expansion in the Baltic States and various logistics services, particularly in e-commerce packages and the development of Estonian Post is a real challenge.”
Latvian Post expands Western Union service
Latvian Post has significantly increased the number of post offices at which it offers Western Union money transfers from this month.
The international remittance services are now available through 302 Latvian post offices, while this month has also seen a modernised electronic money transfer system introduced to the network. Customers no longer have to fill in forms to carry out a money transfer.
Through Latvia Post and Western Union, Latvians can send money to more than 200 countries and territories. Among Latvian Post customers receiving money transfers in 2012, most receive money from the UK (22% of total), Ireland (14%), Russia (13%), Germany (11%) and the USA (9%). Among customers sending money, most send money to Russia (29%), the UK (18%), the Ukraine (14%), Germany (4%) and Belarus (3%).
Bolivia Post agrees air mail deal with Lufthansa
Bolivia Post said last week it has finalised an agreement with the German airline Lufthansa that should speed up the transport of international mail.
The Latin American postal operator said the first weeks under the partnership has seen transit time to mainland Europe reduced from 17 days to eight days, Japan from 14 days to 10 days, and Australasia from 23 days to 12 days.
According to targets within the partnership, further improvements in arrival times around the world are also expected.
