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The humble letter box could become the latest casualty of the internet. Australia Post is introducing a new service in October 2012 that could, in time, dispense with the need for a letter box on residential properties.
The Australia Post Digital MailBox service will enable Australians to receive and pay their household bills from one location on the web. Consumers will also be able to track and manage their relationships with their electricity, telephone, mobile and internet providers. Other providers expected to take-up the service include banks and government entities.
The upside is we’ll be able to pay all our bills from one location on the web using just one password. There will no longer be a need to login to several different websites to manage our household finances. However, having all our data stored in one central location is bound to make some people nervous.
To those concerned about security, Australia Post says that all customer data including bills, payments and correspondence, will be stored in a secure Australian based cloud, provided by Telstra. The cloud based service will also enable consumers to upload documents for storage in their personal Digital MailBox.
Since the vast majority of mail received in the offline world these days is from our service providers, the days of the humble letter box could be well and truly numbered.
In the lead up to the October launch (a date is yet to be announced), Australia Post has been talking up the benefits to business of the Digital MailBox. So far, there are only 3 major companies that we know of who have signed up for the service: AMP, Westpac and Telstra. No doubt, there are many more who have adopted a ‘wait and see’ approach to this new service.
The Digital MailBox will be accessible using a PC and mobile devices. A representative from Australia Post told Australian Women Online, the Digital MailBox service will be provided FREE of charge to consumers.
Ahead of the official launch next month, both consumers and businesses can register their interest in Australia Post Digital MailBox at auspost.com.au/digital-post