Author: Archive

Chinese Cyber regulator considers plan for e-stamps

Posted by | Sep 28, 2007 | |

China’s e-mail users may one day have to stick a cyber stamp on their missives as the nation’s Internet regulator pushes for development of an electronic postal system.

The aim is not to raise revenue from postage charges but to fight the increase in junk mail, according to the China Internet Conference, the largest annual gathering for the country’s Internet industry, which concluded on Wednesday.

The e-stamp system would amount to an electronic mark implanted within an e-mail, containing information that could be used to identify the sender.

Ordinary users wouldn’t notice any difference, as only third-party organizations such as the anti-spam committee or government bodies would be able to decode and trace the mailer.

The benefit for e-mail users: the e-stamp would allow their mail to move faster through a “green passage” on the Web, and they wouldn’t need to worry about being mistakenly blocked by the receiver.

Senders of junk mail face fines up to 30,000 yuan (USD 3,947), according to an e-mail service regulation enacted in March last year.

Spam mail accounted for 58 percent of all messages received by Chinese e-mail users in the second quarter. Most of the mail promoted online shopping, schemes to make money on the Internet, sex toys or drugs. Those categories accounted for nearly 40 percent of all junk messages. Even worse, 11 percent of the spam also contained computer viruses, according to the Internet Society of China.

Though still serious, the 58-percent figure marked a six percentage point drop from the first quarter of 2006, the most obvious improvement among all countries in the period, said the ISC’s Wang.

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Postal policy errs: IPC study

Posted by | Sep 28, 2007 | |

Competition is increasing among different postal providers and mail order companies entering the postal market and has intensified through the growing developments in the electronic sector, logistics and publishing. On the political side, there are discussions and negotiations aimed at liberalizing postal markets and the introduction of new laws and regulations.

However, regulators and lawmakers do not fully understand the economics of the postal industry, according to the International Post Corporation’s CEO, Herbert-Michael Zapf.

The study, entitled “How to Regulate the Postal Industry: An Economic Approach,” said that liberalization of the postal market is being accompanied by new, complex and detailed regulations, but that the economics of the postal business and the dynamics of the postal market are either ignored or not understood.

The study reveals that, in the postal markets, the number of new entrants has made it possible to create an alternative postal infrastructure, clearly demonstrating that a monopoly does not exist.

Investments in the postal industry are neither extremely high, nor predominantly low.

The study says, “The role of postal market regulation is not to create competition, but rather to create a framework that allows for competition. Regulators that today set out to create a high level of competition within a short period of time have failed to understand the postal market correctly.”

The study highlights the fact that the objective of postal market regulation today is not to apportion the postal market. Instead the objective is to create an environment in which the market can grow.

The postal market is neither self-contained, nor are there entry barriers on the demand side. Competitive interaction exists to a high degree with other industries, such as the electronic commerce and logistics industries, according to the findings.

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The international reply coupon turns 100

Posted by | Sep 28, 2007 | |

With 2.2 million sold each year, the international reply coupon is a much-traveled centenarian which has been of service to generations of postal customers. This method for the prepayment of postage was first introduced by the UPU International Bureau on 1 October 1907, in response to a proposal by the “British Colonies of Australasia”, which wished to see a system already in use domestically in several countries – the ability to prepay the postage charge for a correspondent from whom a reply was expected – extended worldwide.

Acting on this request, the 1906 Universal Postal Union Congress in Rome created the international reply coupon. At the time, this new coupon could be exchanged for postage stamps valued at 25 gold centimes in all UPU member countries that had signed the corresponding agreement. The IRC was to evolve further at subsequent Congresses: the exchange of coupons by UPU member countries became mandatory; the minimum selling price was increased several times; time limits for exchanging coupons were introduced; and liquidation accounts were set up for given periods.

Since 1907, seven different types of IRCs have been designed and printed by the UPU, and put on sale by member countries. The current version is known as Beijing 2. It was launched on 1 July 2006, and is valid until 31 December 2009. Reply coupons are currently sold by 121 postal administrations. But while not all countries sell IRCs, all the postal administrations of the UPU’s 191 member countries, and their territories, are required to exchange them.

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'Give letter mail a chance' – Per Mortensen, Chairman, Postal Users Group

Posted by | Sep 28, 2007 | |

Concerning Interview: Portugal eyes end to ‘mail battle’ and in response to the European Commission’s proposal, following 20 years of debate, to finally open the EU market for letter mail by 2009, there has been another vociferous, determined and energetic campaign to delay the process until well into the next decade.

The Postal Users Group (PUG), an alliance of European trade associations and large users, has been deeply disappointed by this response. We believe letter mail needs a liberalized market in order to have a positive and sustainable future. The current ‘half-way house’ has failed to deliver what is badly needed: competitive prices, enhanced service quality, new services, product innovation and dynamic partnerships between providers and users.

There is growing evidence that consumers, users and businesses are open to new means of having knowledge and information delivered to their homes and workplaces in creative combinations of the post and the web.

That is why PUG wants the EU to act decisively now, finish a very old debate, and approve the Commission’s proposal to amend Directive 97/67/EC, which will complete the internal market in Community postal services by setting a fixed deadline to fully open the letter mail market by no later than 2010.

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Printers secure as Royal Mail offers bulk mail opt out during strikes

Posted by | Sep 28, 2007 | |

It should be business as usual for bulk mail printers as Royal Mail has announced the suspension of door drops for unaddressed mail during next month’s strikes to allow customers to make alternative arrangements for delivery.

The company is suspending its activities for the weeks beginning 8, 15, and 22 October, during which the Communication Workers Union (CWU) has scheduled a series of 48-hour strikes.

The company said in a statement: “The CWU’s strike action, which is designed to damage Royal Mail, its customers and its people, will make it impossible for us to deliver the services normally to our customers and we are taking steps now to give customers in the fully competitive door to door market the opportunity to change their mailing plans or, if necessary, make alternative arrangements.”

Direct Marketing Agency head of postal affairs Alex Walsh was confident that mailers would have no problem finding alternative means of delivery.

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Post insurance: a new and promising market for African postal institutions

Posted by | Sep 28, 2007 | |

This article is a summary of a text written by Wilfrid A. Serge MARTIN, Directeur des Services Financiers Postaux at La Poste, our WSBI Member in Benin. It defines what post insurance is and describes the situation and the perspectives of post insurance in Africa and in Benin in particular. The full text of the article, with more statistical information, can be obtained on demand.
The marketing of insurance products via the distribution network of a financial institution leads to new market shares, generates extra revenues and constitutes a welcome diversification of the product offer. Indeed, both non-life (accidents, health, car insurance, travel insurance) and life insurance can be offered to the clients, either directly or linked to a financial product. Banks all over the world, and also in Africa, have taken up this opportunity since a long time already and coined the concept “bank insurance”. Postal institutions in West Africa have on the contrary a lot of catching up to do. Instead of tapping into this new and promising market that corresponds perfectly to the needs of their clients, these institutions have focused far too long on their traditional postal and financial business, although their creation law or regulation anticipated this contingency already in the 60’s.

The so-called CIMA code, which regulates the insurance market in 16 African countries including Benin, enables a change of the law on the insurance sector in 2004. An additional clause obtained after a battle of many years headed by a private insurance company and La Poste du Benin, allowed the marketing of a full range of insurance products (life and non-life) through the post offices and microfinance institutions.

The use of the “post insurance” concept will not only bring in new business, but will also enhance the specific role and identity of the postal institutions against the commercial banks.

La Poste du Benin is putting in place an intensive marketing plan for a retirement related insurance product, after the launch in December 2005 of a new product based on life insurance. Indeed, these product categories have an important potential for savings mobilisation. This is demonstrated by positive experiences of La Poste du Senegal, where sales of retirement savings surged after the introduction of an insurance- linked product. Earlier, la Poste had already introduced successfully an insurance linked to an account.

The results obtained by La Poste in Benin and positive experiences by postal institutions in other African countries clearly show the need for Postal institutions to orientate towards new businesses. The use of the post insurance concept will allow the national post office to capture an important part of the Benin insurance market, where currently 10 insurance companies are active. The potential is undoubtedly present and thanks to its large network, its important client portfolios and considerable sales volume, the Benin Post is ideally positioned.

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Strong Canadian dollar spurs Web sales

Posted by | Sep 27, 2007 | |

The ritual has resumed, as it always does when the Canadian dollar strengthens against the U. S. dollar. Throngs of Canadian shoppers cross the border in search of lower prices and greater selection at American stores.

But when the Canadian dollar reached parity last week, there was a new twist: online sales now let Canadians hunt for bargains in the United States without leaving home. If early indications hold true, some of the biggest winners from the rise of the Canadian dollar may ultimately be online retailers based in the United States. Because Canada’s relatively small population of just 33 million makes online operations less cost-effective, few Canadian retailers – less than a third by some estimates – sell through the Web. That limited local competition, combined with a high Canadian dollar and the incremental cost of expanding into Canada, make the country a tempting target for American retailers.

No one measures Canadian cross-border spending, virtual or otherwise. But, Paulina Sazon, a direct marketing strategist at Canada Post, said that the Canadian postal service had seen the volume of shipments through its special cross-border service for U.S. retailers increase 38 percent over the last year

A spokeswoman at UPS Canada, Christina Falcone, said the shipping company had seen “significant growth,” thanks to the strengthening Canadian dollar.

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