Big Mail shake-up for Fiji

Fijians could soon be receiving bank statements in days rather than weeks and paying telephone and other bills over the Net following a deal between NZ Post subsidiary Datamail and Fiji Post.

Datamail general manager of business and customer management David Allen says the contact to supply bulk mail technology could be worth “some millions of dollars” over the next two or three years.

The company is supplying a complete hi-tech print and mail bureau to Post Fiji, which Mr Allen expects will eventually handle about 70 per cent of the 10 million or so “essential” mail items issued by banks and utilities in Fiji each year.

Telecom Fiji has already signed up, as have several banks.

As well as speeding up deliveries and improving utilities’ cashflows, the Web-based document management technology used to generate and handle bills should let counter staff call up copies of bills on-screen.

Most Fijians pay bills over-the-counter using cash and Mr Allen says Telecom Fiji is keen to ensure staff can view electronic images of mailed bills and issue new ones on the spot.

Electronic access to printed mail items should also accelerate the development of call centres in Fiji, which are just starting to take off, he says.

Datamail says the new facility will pre-sort mail to ensure it reaches customers within one or two days.

The Post Fiji operation will be housed in a new mail-sorting centre being built on the outskirts of Suva. Datamail has been training Post Fiji staff in Suva and Christchurch.

Mr Allen says the processing centre will also be capable of assisting utilities format billing information so bills can be delivered over the Web.

NZ Post is likely to supply its electronic bill payment and presentation system eBill to Post Fiji as part of a later stage of a fairly “broad contract” negotiated through its international consulting business Transend.