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Customers to also have the option of sending and receiving letters digitally in future
In future, Swiss Post is to also accept and deliver letters with postal addresses digitally. The Federal Council is modernizing Swiss Post’s mandate and responding to changing customer needs with its proposal today for an adapted Postal Services Ordinance, which additionally provides for amendments to logistics and payment transactions. For Swiss Post, this is another important step towards the future. A nationwide public service can only run without taxpayers’ money if the company is able to adapt to societal and economic developments.
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For over 175 years, Swiss Post has transported goods and information confidentially. Swiss Post carries out this universal service obligation on behalf of the Swiss Confederation every day to the highest possible standard – self-financed, without taxpayers’ money. At the same time, it is continually developing its range of services within the statutory requirements. The needs of customers play a pivotal role. Due to ongoing digitization, the universal service obligation is now to be amended to include a hybrid delivery system. Swiss Post welcomes this change: “Swiss Post is continuing to modernize its products and services to make everyday life easier for customers. It’s important that the public service can also take account of these developments. The Federal Council’s plan to anchor the hybrid letter in the mandate is an important step towards a modern universal postal service that can meet the needs of today’s customers”, says Swiss Post's interim CEO Alex Glanzmann.
Setting an important course: hybrid letters will become part of everyday life
Swiss Post ensures secure and reliable transport from A to B. It also handles this transport in the digital space. In recent years, the company has additionally specialized in the secure and reliable transmission of digital information. It is bringing mail secrecy to the digital world. Under the proposal, Swiss Post will use this expertise within the scope of the consultation procedure to safeguard letters in the digital space, from posting through to delivery and receipt. “If a customer sends a letter by post in the future, they will have the option of sending it digitally. In this case, the recipient can then decide whether to receive the consignment physically or digitally. It means customers will be free to choose. We firmly believe that the hybrid letter is the right path for Switzerland and for modernizing the universal postal service obligation,” explains Nicole Burth, Member of Executive Management and Head of the Digital Services unit.
Swiss Post boosts legal security in the digital space
With the amended Postal Services Ordinance, there would be a hybrid letter, which offers various advantages. Thanks to a regulated seal, the recipient would know that the letter is genuine and unaltered. The qualified time stamp would provide proof of the acceptance time. This would increase legal certainty. The hybrid letter also offers enhanced confirmation of retrieval. The proposed change makes things simpler for senders. Those wishing to send a letter to a postal address will also be able to do so digitally. Depending on the recipient’s preference, Swiss Post will then deliver the letter to a physical or digital letter box. For business customers, the hybrid system offers an additional advantage. They will be able to send and receive letters digitally directly from their existing business software. Modernizing its universal service obligation allows Swiss Post to take account of the current importance of digital communication.
Further proposals in logistics and payment transactions
As part of the consultation procedure, the Federal Council is additionally proposing to standardize delivery punctuality (delivery times) of letters, newspapers and parcels at 90 percent. Swiss Post also welcomes this proposal. The new requirements would, for example, enable greater flexibility and logistical planning in the case of exceptional events such as train cancellations or tunnel blockages, and Swiss Post could align its capacities more closely to those of normal operations. This would, in turn, have a positive effect on the company’s self-sustainability until the comprehensive revision of the law.
In addition, delivery will be made to all settlements inhabited all year round instead of all homes inhabited all year round as it is today. Around 2 percent of all Swiss households would be affected by this change. They would receive alternative delivery solutions. The changeover will be implemented over a period of 10 years. Swiss Post essentially welcomes this proposed change as it would significantly increase delivery efficiency.
The proposed amendment also provides for an expansion of the universal service in digital payment transactions. The payment transactions market is already highly digitized today and the Swiss population has comprehensive access. This equally applies to online payment methods. PostFinance already offers its customers e-finance and the PF App as well as a debit card for online purchases.
Swiss Post will publish its detailed response to the bill submitted for consultation after an in-depth examination. The proposed amendments to the ordinance would be another important step. Furthermore, Swiss Post still needs a fundamental political discussion about a modern universal service obligation from 2030. The universal postal service should be designed to meet customers’ changing needs.
Any questions about hybrid letters?
Nicole Burth, Head of Digital Services and Member of Executive Management, will be available today at 1 p.m. to 1.30 p.m. for a virtual Q&A session with media representatives. Interested media representatives can contact the Media Unit at presse@swisspost.ch.
Information:
Swiss Post Media Unit, 058 341 00 00, presse@swisspost.ch