Postal Service

The Postal Service's decision to accept credit and debit cards at post offices across the country makes sense because of the (1) potential convenience to postal customers; (2) potential cash management benefits to the Postal Service; and (3) acceptance of these cards by government agencies and businesses, particularly by Postal Service competitors. Before the Service can implement such a policy nationwide, however, several issues must be resolved, such as whether to accept cards only at larger post offices and whether to accept them at both windows and vending machines. The Service is now pilot testing card use at post office windows in Florida; Texas; Washington, D.C., and its Maryland and Virginia suburbs; and in vending machines in California post offices. The results of the test, scheduled to end by late 1994, will be needed before the Service makes any recommendation on nationwide card acceptance. Service officials say that they do not intend to expand card acceptance beyond current locations until this decision is made.

GAO found that: (1) accepting credit and debit cards would have a number of benefits and would help ensure the sustainability of the postal system; (2) credit card acceptance would reduce the number of times a customer visits a post office, but it may have no effect on total sales revenues; (3) customers appear to be satisfied with the credit card option where it is available; (4) customers would welcome the option of using cards at vending machines, since they would not have to wait in line; (5) card acceptance at vending machines would reduce labor costs, improve cash management at post offices, and reduce cash handling and bad check expenses and employee fraud; (6) card acceptance would make USPS more competitive with private mail services; (7) before implementing the proposal nationwide, USP is considering what cards to accept, what equipment to use, where cards should be accepted, limitations on card use, card promotion, employee training, and implementation and operating costs; and (8) USPS is testing card acceptance at selected post offices and at vending machines in various states and it will not expand card acceptance beyond these sites until it has evaluated the test results.