Why Fusing Postal Services with Payment Solutions Is a Perfect Match
By i2c inc.
Read Time : 05 Min
It is increasingly difficult for postal organizations to stay relevant in a rapidly changing economy defined by evolving consumer preferences and mass adoption of mobile and digital technologies. Aggregate mail volume has fallen over 25% during the past ten years, and traditional core mail business now represents less than half of the global postal industry revenue.
As a result, revenue diversification remains a common theme across the industry, as postal organizations look to transform their value proposition with new products, digital capabilities, and channels to expand growth and revenue.
Offering a portfolio of financial services and payments solutions, underpinned by digital technology, is a natural strategic area for this transformation to occur.
Leveraging post offices’ competitive advantages
Post offices are well-positioned to expand into payments and financial services given their inherent competitive advantages — trust in their brand and an established physical distribution network.
Postal organizations possess an extremely high level of trust within the local communities they serve. The post office brand carries the cachet of a ubiquitous and reliable supplier where transaction transparency and safety are maintained. Most consumers interact in some way with their local postal organization almost daily.
Also, they have an established infrastructure, efficient operations, and extensive brick-and-mortar presence—a key touchpoint major digital brands like Google lack. Like banks, post offices branches are already staffed with experienced personnel familiar with point-of-sale interactions and cash-handling procedures; they can be easily trained to sell a range of consumer-friendly payment products.
Consumer-focused post office payment solutions
Offering complimentary high-value payments and financial services solutions ideally suited to the needs of today’s digital consumers is an excellent opportunity for postal services to modernize and diversify their business.
Prepaid card products are a good starting point because they present an assortment of consumer applications. Advanced card controls and mobile alerts allow consumers to personalize their prepaid travel or gift cards and set spending limits, manage budgets, and even mitigate exposure to fraud. Sophisticated engagement tools enable meaningful communications with customers via relevant and timely marketing campaigns and offers.
Travel cards with multi-purse technology give consumers the convenience and freedom to carry multiple currencies on a single travel card, saving them time and the expense of foreign transaction fees. Parents can add companion cards to their accounts to offer their children some spending freedom while managing a budget.
For example, Australia Post is using i2c’s Agile Processing platform as part of its digital transformation strategy, rolling advanced digital functionality and engagement features for its popular Load&Go GPR Visa card, gift, multi-currency travel, China travel, and corporate incentive cards. Kiwibank uses i2c’s platform to deliver a best-in-class payments experience and extend a robust set of features to its prepaid Loaded for Travel and Prezzy gift card programs.
Moreover, credit cards remain one of the more profitable lines of business in the payments industry through interest and fee income. While consumers are generally a viable market for postal organizations, small businesses may be an even better target, given their relationships and frequent contact with postal organizations as they have a consistent need for small lines of working capital.
Australia Post and Kiwibank demonstrate how modern, industry-leading payment processing technology can help turn postal organizations into financial services providers. By leveraging post office payment solutions, postal organizations can transform their businesses beyond parcel delivery and tap into new revenue streams.
Rather than falling behind in the digital economy, post offices can profit from it.
To learn more, visit www.i2cinc.com/solutions/post-office/
