Itella’s digital mail service continues rapid growth

Finland’s Itella Group has said its digital mail service, NetPosti, is continuing its rapid growth, with the number of its customers soaring by a third in the past year. The company said 100,000 users have joined the service in the past 12 months, bringing the total using NetPosti to 400,000.

NetPosti allows consumers to receive and archive bills, pay slips, laboratory results and other important documents, receiving items one or two days faster than printed equivalents according to the Finnish postal operator.

A key reason for the explosive growth has been the rate that major employers have been signing up to use NetPosti to send communications to their employees.

Itella claims that NetPost has the largest number of mailers for a digital mail service in Finland, with more than 5,000 companies using it, and more than 600 public sector organisations.

Jatta Rantala, the product manager of NetPosti, said: “Finland’s largest network of senders makes it easier for customers to take care of electronic tasks. Users can route most of their official mail to one secure location.

“Users are happy about the fact that they can get their confidential mail, such as pay slips, in NetPosti faster than printed ones, and can access them at any time anywhere. Official mail is stored in the NetPosti archive for seven years free of charge, and important information is found quickly whenever needed,” added Rantala.

“Mailbox of the entire nation”

Finland has one of the highest Internet penetration rates in the world, with around 90% of the population – about 4.6m people – currently online. The government is aiming to get the whole population online by 2015.

NetPosti was first launched by Itella back in 2001, but after an initial surge in customer numbers, its growth slowed after a few years of operation. Demand picked up significantly towards the end of the last decade, with customer numbers jumping in leaps and bounds since 2010.

Itella has seen a 43% increase in its electronic letter volumes in the first half of 2012 compared to the same period a year ago, while its physical letter volumes reduced by 3%.

The company said a customer satisfaction survey has shown that 80% of customers believe NetPosti meets their needs.

Rantala said Finns were now beginning to see the convenience of switching to electronic communications.

“The volume of electronic deliveries has increased recently, whereas that of printed ones has declined. Last year, consumers received nine million electronic letters via our service. Our goal is to make NetPosti the electronic mailbox of the entire nation,” she said.