UK Royal Mail to trial electronic stamps

Royal Mail is due to start trials on electronic stamps by end-April 2003. The system would allow consumers and companies to purchase stamps over the Internet and output them onto a printer, according to Paul Kelsall, information systems director with Royal Mail. If the trials are successful, electronic stamps will be available generally by end-2003. Lockheed Martin, supplier of sorting machines to Royal Mail, is developing the technology. The stamps will include encryption technology, to cut fraud.