New Postage Statements Available for Mailers

The United States Postal Service® (USPS®) has made available the new postage statements, which reflect the verbiage changes for the conversion of the former Bulk Mail Centers (BMC's) to Network Distribution Centers (NDC's). Although these new statements were effective March 14, 2010, and the USPS encourages mailers to begin using the new statements as soon as possible, mailers have until May 27, 2010 to use the old January 2010 versions of the postage statements. After May 27, the March 14, 2010 postage statements will be mandatory. Window Book software has been updated to include the new postage statements.

Other Changes

In addition to the verbiage changes for the BMC to NDC conversion, the USPS has also updated the "USPS Only" area of the postage statements. This change is to primarily reflect the new USPS policy for handling postage statements at offices equipped with PostalOne! At these offices, the USPS will no longer complete the "USPS Only" area of the postage statements, nor will they apply the red round date stamp. At offices not equipped with PostalOne!, the USPS will continue to complete the "USPS Only" area of the statements and apply the red round date stamp. The USPS has posted a technical guide to detail this policy change on the Rapid Information Bulletin Board System (RIBBS).

e-Round Stamp^™

Window Book is providing their clients with an alternative to the manually-applied red round stamp.

Once the postage statements have been processed through PostalOne!, the pertinent information from the receipt file may be extracted and applied as an electronic round stamp (e-Round Stamp). The e-Round Stamp will then appear on PDF files of the finalized  12:02:05 PM and on any hard copies printed from the PDF's. This allows mailers to continue providing an easily recognized proof of mailing, regardless of whether hard copy or electronic postage statements are used.

Follow this link for more information on the e-Round Stamp.

Round Stamp Exception Requests

The USPS also recently announced that mailers requiring additional time to deal with the elimination of the red round date stamp can request an exception. If the exception is granted, the USPS will continue to complete the "USPS Only" area of the postage statements and will apply the red round date stamp. The exceptions would allow mailers to continue to receive round-stamped hardcopy postage statements until June 13, 2010. To request an exception, mail owners or mail agents must provide a written request to the Postmaster or, for mailings deposited at a district Business Mail Entry Unit, the manager of Business Mail Entry to request an exception. Mailers should ensure that the mail owner and mail agent (where applicable) sections are accurately completed on the hardcopy statements for accurate processing of exceptions.