NetStamps™ was a new feature introduced in early 2003 to extend the convenience of Internet postage. NetStamps gives customers Internet postage that can be used just like adhesive postage stamps. Giving customers this option provides an attractive technology-based alternative to support the Postal Service Transformation Plan objective to move simple transactions out of the retail lobby. Since introduction, NetStamps sales have exceeded $20 million.

     Throughout 2003, continued enhancements were made to the centralized databases used to track and manage products, customers, and revenue associated with postage meter use. During 2003, the Postal Service consolidated the Meter Accounting and Tracking System database from the 85 districts into one centralized database. The reduction of district databases resulted in the elimination of processing time, consolidation of error correction, near realtime data, and support of shared services.

     The Postal Service also continued its initiatives to move to electronic transfer of funds; not only to improve Postal Service data management and savings but also to provide improvements for customers by eliminating any delay in use of their postage funds that may have been caused by manual processes. These enhancements provided the opportunity to avoid and/or take $35 million in costs out of the system during 2003. Highlights of these efforts include:

• A further reduction of 60 percent, or 8,000, in manually-reset meters from the level at the end of 2002, eliminating in excess of 70,000 manual resets at the Post Office window.
• More than one million meter installations and withdrawals processed through the automated meter movement file that otherwise would have required entry by a field finance clerk.
• 230,300 secure fund transfers processed, allowing meter funds to be transferred from one remote reset

meter to another in the customer's place of business - eliminating the need for a withdraw and installation by a Postal Service employee and the issuance of a refund check.
• 178,200 secure withdrawals processed as a result of the implementation of policies and system modifications to allow for the withdrawal of a meter without Postal Service employee verification.

     More than 70,000 PC Postage closed account refunds and 50,000 spoiled postage refunds processed by the commercial providers — eliminating the issuance of checks and verification of spoiled postage at the Post Office window.

     The USPS Electronic Postmark service digitally time-stamps and signs electronic files and detects any tampering of the postmarked document or transaction. The USPS Electronic Postmark program is working with major Information Technology service providers to incorporate the use of the USPS Electronic Postmark into their services for their customers. The Postal Service announced the availability of In-Person Proofing (IPP) at Post Office branches that support the issuance of higher trust digital credentials. This was in response to a need for improved "online identity" which creates this unique service opportunity for the Postal Service to provide value to the public, leverage our retail network and enable internet communications to enjoy a new level of security and reliability. IPP provides physical authentication of an individual's identification at a Post Office before the organization issues a digital signature certificate to the individual. This service is available for purchase by both certifying authorities and government agencies.

     USPS Electronic Postmark Extension for Microsoft Office® provides users with tamper detection and date/time stamping of electronic documents and files. The extension allows the user to digitally sign a document and apply an electronic date and time within Microsoft Office XP and Microsoft Office 2003. This combination of technologies provides an integrated set of capabilities that