The new electronic bill-paying program the U.S. Postal Service launched last week reportedly is about to be challenged before the Postal Rate Commission.
Although no formal complaint has been filed with the PRC, sources close to the situation tell DIRECT Newsline that a number of questions about the service are being raised by postal service competitors, particularly United Parcel Service, Atlanta. So far no one is willing to talk on the record about the program or the questions that are being raised; nor is the USPS commenting on the possibility of the service being challenged.
Among the questions being raised are:
* Is the program a postal service as defined by the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970? And if it is, why didn’t postal officials run it by the PRC and obtain the authorization of their Board of Governors before launching the program last week?
* Are the costs, revenues, projected to hit about $400 million after three years of operation, and anticipated use volumes figured into the current rate case being heard by the PRC? If not, why not since it appears the USPS has been negotiating with its partners, CheckFreeCorp, Atlanta, and the YourAccounts.com, division of Spokane, WA-based Output Technology, for some time before last week’s actual start of the program.
* How will the privacy of the program’s users be protected?
* What and how will they use the anticipated volumes of personal information that will be gathered about and from program users?
According to the USPS, consumers and large commercial mailers, including direct marketers and high-volume mailers, can use the program to electronically send and receive bills and payments via the postal service’s Internet site, www.usps.com.
CheckFree, which reportedly handles about 80 percent of all online bill-paying in the USPS, will actually operate the program, with YourAccounts.com providing electronic and print services to large commercial customers.
Both firms will help commercial users prepare and distribute bills electronically to consumers and other businesses in addition to receiving payments.
There will be no charge for use of the program for the first six months. Afterwards, users will have to choose from two different payment plans: a pay everyone plan for $6 a month with 20 free payments and a charge of 40 cents for each additional transaction, or a $2-a-month pay-as-you-go plan of 40 cents per electronic payment.
