Over the years, USPS has developed a number of products and platforms for shipping services. Postage meters and PC Postage Products belong to USPS’s Postage Evidencing System (PES) and are offered to customers through PES providers. PC Postage is a service that allows customers to print labels and postage with their own printers. PC Postage uses USPS-approved third-party providers, like Stamps.com, Pitney Bowes, EasyPost, and Endicia.com, with vendor software that allows users to pay for and print postage using a computer, printer, and internet connection. PC Postage is different from other online shipping label generating services like eVS (Electronic Verification System), ePostage, and Click-N-Ship, which are all offered by USPS and other third-party providers. The differences are in the details and include the shipping volume, the size of the business outlet, and how postage accounts are managed.

Postage meters, however, are a less complicated part of PES. Postage meters are tabletop printers leased by authorized providers for use in the home or office. A postage meter calculates rates and directly prints postage onto envelopes and packages. A meter stamp is proof of payment that also contains a postmark and a cancellation that prevents the reuse of the stamp. There are several benefits to using a postal meter, including the elimination of adhesive stamps, allowing the user to send out any class of mail (except periodicals) in any quantity at any price. Small meters require users to hand feed each piece of mail; large and specialized meters can fold, insert, weigh, and stamp postage onto envelopes.

“People think only big corporations have postage machines, but most of our customers are small businesses who like the convenience of the postage meter and the current 6 percent savings over buying adhesive stamps,” says Mike Ferris, the only authorized dealer/reseller of Francotyp-Postalia postage machines in Alaska.

In 2024, USPS is moving through the final stages of ensuring that all PES platforms meet the new Intelligent Main Indicia (IMI) standard. Currently, there are two types of PES Performance Criteria: Information Based Indicia (IBI) and IMI. USPS established IBI in 1999 to transition from mechanical PES to digital PES. However, as meter requirements evolved, USPS developed the IMI standard in 2013.

When it comes to postage meters, there are two important dates to remember for this year: June 30 and December 31. On June 30, USPS will decertify IBI machines, so vendors can no longer distribute IBI machines for use. Existing users can still use IBI machines until December 31, when USPS will mark them inactive. Any postage printed on IBI meters to that point will be valid until June 30, 2025. After that, USPS will no longer consider IBI postage valid for use or refunds.

“USPS made the announcement regarding this change in 2020,” says Ferris. “Over the last four years, vendors like us have been transitioning non-compliant customers into a compliant technology.”

Postage aficionados have likely noticed differences in the meter postage marks on letters and packages. The meter postage in the upper right corner of the mail is called an “indicia.” Older IBI meters produce a two-dimensional barcode as well as human-readable information. The new IMI postage features an advanced postal marking that captures and communicates more data.

According to USPS, IBI standards no longer meet evolving business needs. They contain limited postage and transaction data, they cannot automate refunds and postage payment validation, and they do not fully meet product reporting and pricing requirements. USPS says that IMI provides more transparent and detailed transaction data, enables automation of costly back-office operations, and employs better security standards.

IMI provides transaction-level data for each mail piece daily; supports automated refunds, refund authorization, and fraud detection; supports proper mail rating and classification by restricting keyed-in postage; provides end mailer information for federal government compliance; supports tracking and management of reprinted indicia; and improves security for rate table, log files, and data exchange interface. IBI meters are only partially compliant in several of these areas and noncompliant for the rest.

Users will benefit from the new platform, says Ferris. Even the most careful manual data entry might produce errors that result in paying either too much or too little for postage. With an IMI, the postage is automatically calculated based on service class. Using IMI saves money, and less mail is returned for lack of postage. Ferris estimates that an IMI meter will save customers up to $38 a year, depending on the size of the machine.

From the outside, some of the new IMI machines look exactly like the old ones, but the software inside is completely different. Ferris says very few businesses purchase their postage meters, and even for those that do, they still need to rent the meter (the part that manages money) inside the machine. He says businesses should remember that the meter belongs to USPS, which means they will keep billing for an older IBI meter even if a business is not using it. Businesses must return the meter to the vendor.

Given the pending deadlines, Ferris says this is a great time for a business to assess their current machine and determine if it’s still meeting their needs. The type and amount of correspondence changes as a business evolves; a meter from five or ten years ago might be too small now—or even too large. Ferris suggests that businesses take the time to determine what changes, if any, to their postage needs have occurred before contacting their vendors. He says they may find a need to upgrade or even downgrade based on their current needs.

With all this in mind, Ferris cannot emphasize enough the need to make these changes before the deadline.

“The clock is ticking,” says Ferris. “To minimize the risk of interrupted mail service, we are advising users to take a look at their current contract to ensure they are upgraded to a new postage meter equipped with the USPS IMI technology by the deadline date of the end of the year.”