Effective July 11, 2016, the Postal Service™ will revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®), by updating section 604.5.5, Alternate Postage.
Alternate Postage is an electronic postage payment mechanism for single-piece First-Class Mail® letters or postcards, addressed to any domestic address, that weigh no more than one ounce each. Alternate Postage has proven to be a viable option for senders to share information with numerous receivers. To expand its use, we are simplifying the requirements. To use Alternate Postage, also known as Share Mail™, mailers no longer have to have a signed marketing agreement nor do they have to have unique Intelligent Mail® barcodes. Production pieces still have to be submitted to ensure readability by postal processing equipment so proper payment of postage occurs.
Mailers wishing to participate in this program must submit their request in writing to the USPS®, prior to mailing.
Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM)
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600 Basic Standards For All Mailing Services
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604 Postage Payment Methods and Refunds
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5.0 Permit Imprint (Indicia)
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5.5 Alternate Postage
[Revise the text of 5.5 to read as follows:]
Alternate Postage is an electronic postage payment mechanism for single-piece First-Class Mail letters or postcards, addressed to any domestic address, that weigh no more than one ounce each. Customers wishing to participate in this program must submit their request in writing to the Manager, New Solutions, Mailing Services, USPS, 475 L’Enfant Plaza SW, Room 5440, Washington, DC 20260-4440. Customers participating in the Alternate Postage payment program must, at a minimum, meet the following requirements:
a. Have a Centralized Account Processing System (CAPS) account link with USPS;
b. Submit production quality mailpieces to USPS for pre-approval and have received subsequent USPS approval; and
c. Have approved mailpieces that bear unique or static Intelligent Mail barcodes, an approved permit imprint indicia in the upper-right hand corner of the mailpiece, and a special facing identification mark (FIM E) (see 708.9.2e).
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We will incorporate this revision into the July 2016 update of the online DMM, which is available via Postal Explorer® at http:⁄⁄pe.usps.com.
— Product Classification,
Marketing and Sales, 6-9-16
