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Emirates and Indian Posts start exchanging electronic money transfers

Posted by | May 5, 2008 | |

The Emirate and Indian postal services have joined the UPU’s International Financial System network to offer their customers a new possibility for sending money electro-nically.

In addition to being eco-nomical, a new electronic money-transfer service launched by the two postal operators is fast (recipients receive their money within hours) and offered in many post offices. As part of a first phase, customers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) can send transfers from any post office in the country to 97 main post offices and more than 2,400 branches in the regions of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkota and Kerala. The service will soon be extended to all of India.

At the moment, money sent to India is delivered directly to the recipient’s home, but more options will be added later.

At a worldwide level, the exchange corridor between India and the UAE is among the 10 most important ones in terms of money transfers from migrants. According to the World Bank, close to 2.2 million Indian immigrants reside in the UAE. Each year, migrants from all over the world send 27 billion USD to India.

The transfers between the Indian and Emirate Posts are possible thanks to the IFS solution, the backbone of the UPU’s international electronic postal payments network. Ninety countries are currently using or testing IFS, which is bringing solutions to issues around money transfers, international migration and poverty reduction.

India, China and the UAE are the most recent large countries to have adopted IFS in order to improve and facilitate money transfers for their customers.

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Working towards a greener postal sector

Posted by | May 5, 2008 | |

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Universal Postal Union (UPU) have agreed to work together to slash the CO2 emissions caused by members of the postal sector.

Under the agreement signed in Berne last week by Achim Steiner, Executive Director of UNEP, and Edouard Dayan, Director General of the UPU, UNEP will help the UPU calculate the volumes of greenhouse gases generated by the postal sector, using a clearly-defined methodology.

The UPU’s International Bureau is shortly to launch a survey of the organization’s 191 member countries, to collect data on the sector as a whole, including buildings and vehicles, the mileage these vehicles cover, and the volumes of fuel consumed. Once this information has been gathered, UNEP will help the UPU develop a method to quantify the greenhouse gas emissions generated by the postal sector. The UPU and UNEP will then offer postal operators a range of solutions to cut these emissions, and will monitor the impact of these measures from year to year.

The issue of the environment will be discussed extensively at the Congress, and Mr. Steiner will take part in the General Debate on 25 July 2008, which will be attended by heads of international organizations, representatives of the governments and operators of the UPU member countries, and other decision-makers from across the sector.

According to even the most modest estimates, the world postal sector comprises over five million staff (twice that number if we consider the wider sector) and 660,000 postal establishments, and uses some 250,000 motorcycles, over 600,000 cars, vans and trucks, and hundreds of aircraft to deliver mail to the four corners of the world… Not to mention the tonnes of paper used daily in postal communications. The sector therefore has a significant role to play in cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

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Postal codes at risk (Danmark)

Posted by | May 5, 2008 | |

The arrival of foreign competition and liberalisation of the national postal service may result in new postal codes

Liberalisation of postal services may be the demise of the nation’s 40-year-old postal codes as the system, devised and administered by Post Danmark, may undergo drastic reform in the upcoming liberalisation of the nation’s postal service.

One proponent of such a reform is Citymail.

Jarle Trandokken, Norwegian state-owned Citymail’s Danish chief executive, said that the number of postal codes needed to be increased to encompass more addresses and making sorting easier.

To speed up the sorting process easier, Post Danmark invested in advanced sorting machines for scanning post, and Trandokken said it was unreasonable for new players on the market to have to make such substantial investments.

The Road and Transport Agency, the body responsible for inspection of the postal services, acknowledged that a postal liberalisation also came with considerations of reform in the area. However, Mogens Antonsen, a consultant with the agency said the present postal code system was not considered an obstacle.

In the mean time, Helge Israelsen, Post Danmark’s chief executive, said that he was unwilling to change the present postal system to accommodate Citymail’s objections.

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Royal Mail goes digital (UK)

Posted by | May 5, 2008 | |

After trials on hand-held tracker/scanners carried out by 700 Royal Mail postal workers ended in March, Royal Mail is to expand the installation of the technology throughout its fleet of vehicles.

The scanner/trackers (PDAs) are already in use by other postal and parcel operators but Royal Mail has been testing different types to establish which work best in the field. So far, none have been a great success for postal workers operating on foot, but one has been selected for use in vehicles throughout the network. The name of the manufacturer will be announced shortly.

The scanners include an emergency 999 facility to provide added protection for users, the ability to scan signatures for delivery verification, as well as log collection points in real time via GPS.

The CWU, which was initially concerned that the introduction of the technology would enable Royal Mail to ‘spy’ on workers, has agreed that the new equipment would provide an important enhancement to services as well as added protection for operatives – providing a code of conduct is agreed between the CWU and Royal Mail.

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Irish Postal Operator Broadens Online Facilities

Posted by | May 5, 2008 | |

An Post, has recently added the facility to buy or renew TV Licences as part of its online facilities

Communications Minister Eamon Ryan last week launched www.tvlicence.ie, a handy and secure new website facility for buying and renewing a Television Licence.

As well as buying or renewing a licence, householders and businesses can use the new on-line facility to update their contact details, should they move house or premises during the term of their licence.

TV Licence Manager at An Post, Mary Harrahill, explained that buying or renewing a licence through www.tvlicence.ie is quick, secure and very easy to do: “First-time buyers simply key in their name and address. Existing customers use the reference number and PIN number displayed on the renewal notice. After confirming their details, customers can choose to pay by Laser, Visa or Mastercard. They can print off the payment confirmation and the new licence will be posted to them within ten working days, it’s simple as that.

1,059,682 licences were purchased by householders and businesses in 2007. A Television Licence costs EUR 160 per year. Every household, business, holiday home or other premises with a television must have a TV Licence. General TV Licence information is available on the website in Irish and eleven other languages including Chinese, Polish, Lithuanian, Portuguese and Spanish.

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FedEx Truckload Brokerage moves into Canada

Posted by | May 5, 2008 | |

FedEx Truckload Brokerage, a subsidiary of FedEx Custom Critical, said today it has expanded its services into Canada.

A FedEx spokesperson told LM that since FedEx Truckload Brokerage launched last year, its customers “have been asking us to handle their Canadian shipments, so this was the natural next step for FedEx Truckload Brokerage.”

The biggest benefit of this Northern expansion for shippers, according to the spokesperson, is simply that they have a FedEx service for their truckload shipments to and from Canada.

FedEx Truckload Brokerage initially hit the market in a “soft launch” in January 2007, and it formally hit the market the following April. The service is focused on providing shippers with full-service truckload brokerage service offerings, ranging from regular, dry-van freight to oversized pieces that need flatbed trailers, according to FedEx Custom Critical. And it added that additional resources can be deployed for shipments that need temperature control functionality.

A little more than a year ago, the list of qualified carriers that meet FedEx’ requirements was comprised of more than 100 carriers. Today, the spokesman said, FedEx Truckload Brokerage works with 275 carriers, with approximately 10 percent of those carriers offering cross-border services between the U.S. and Canada.

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TNT Post launches 'eco-mark' scheme

Posted by | May 5, 2008 | |

TNT Post is launching a carbon neutral addressed postal service which will allow brands to demonstrate their environmental credentials with a specially developed ‘eco-mark’.

Brands which want to display the eco-mark on their mailings will have to comply with a set of principles laid out by TNT.

In order to qualify, brands will have to undertake a carbon evaluation using a calculator which looks at the emissions of the entire mailing activity, from paper and packaging through to data, mailing house emissions and final delivery.

TNT will also assist participating brands with their carbon reduction by recommending suppliers that can help to reduce emissions, such as data cleansing and capturing undeliverables.

Brands using the service will also be required to offset their remaining emissions by investing in carbon reduction schemes.

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Aramex Inaugurates the Largest Documents Management Facility in the Region

Posted by | May 5, 2008 | |

ARAMEX unveiled its much-anticipated Infofort facility at a special ceremony in Jebel Ali Free Zone.

The AED 55 million (USD 13.61 million) centre was inaugurated by Mr Ibrahim Al Janahi, Senior Vice President, Commercial Sales, Jafza, Fadi Ghandour, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Aramex, along with Georges Harfouche, Managing Director of InfoFort.

The pioneering facility is designed to serve InfoFort’s expanding document management client base. Through innovative record management solutions, the company has already enhanced the operational efficiency of thousands of business groups and banks across the region.

Since acquiring InfoFort in 2005 and DocMan in 2006, Aramex has benefited from the region’s trend toward outsourcing the management of data storage, as a growing number of companies look to specialists to take care of their physical and digital archiving needs.

Built on 20,000 square metres, the three-level compound includes 12,000 sqm of warehousing space and 4,500 sqm of temperature-controlled space, with an operational capacity to hold over 1.5 million boxes and 12 million files.

The center is also equipped with sophisticated safety and security systems, and has advanced scanning and sorting capabilities for the millions of documents it will house.

Over the past 3 years, Aramex has successfully transformed InfoFort to become the leading documents management solutions provider in the Middle East. The new mega-facility’s reach will extend across the GCC and MENA region, acting as an unmatched regional force for InfoFort’s network of Records Management Centers in Saudi, Egypt, Jordan, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar.

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