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Postage Evidencing Systems

A Postage Evidencing System, or PES, is a postage meter or PC Postage product, which prints indicia on mail to show postage was prepaid. USPS regulates PES and their use under 39 CFR Part 501 to protect postal revenue.

Updated October 31, 202616 sources

What it is

PES is USPS's one name for postage meters and PC Postage products. A postage meter is a device that prints postage, leased only from authorized providers. PC Postage prints postage from a personal computer, a printer and Internet access.

PES customers range from small home businesses to large eCommerce enterprises that ship thousands of packages daily. They get their PES from PES providers, the companies USPS authorizes to offer them.

The USPS Commercial Payment office manages PES for USPS. It sets the PES Performance Criteria and oversees PES compliance with USPS mailing, shipping and payment standards.

A PES prints indicia, the markings on mail that show postage was paid. Mailers print the indicia directly on the mailpiece or on a label affixed to it. Postage from a PES can pay for any mail class or product except Periodicals and Bound Printed Matter.

How it works

Each PES holds a postal security device, the secure component that keeps the accounting of postal funds. Customers reset their PES at their place of business through the Computerized Meter Resetting System, an electronic system.

PES providers send USPS transaction files every day. USPS loads them into the National Meter Accounting and Tracking System, which tracks where each PES is installed and how it is set.

A PES mailer may also send USPS a Shipping Services File, the electronic file that holds all manifest and payment information. Such a mailer is strongly encouraged to link a PS Form 5630 to a group of prepaid packages. The form carries a barcode that stands for the file's Electronic File Number.

Performance criteria

The PES Performance Criteria are the standards USPS sets for PES. In December 2020, two were in use: the Information Based Indicia Program and Intelligent Mail Indicia.

The Information Based Indicia Program began in 1999 and moved PES from mechanical to digital. Its PES were set by modem or Internet and printed a 2D barcode with a digital signature approved under the Federal Information Processing Standards.

Information Based Indicia Program PES no longer meet USPS's business needs. They fall short in four ways:

  • They offer limited postage and transaction data.
  • They use technology and security standards that are being retired.
  • They keep USPS from automating refunds and checks that the right postage was paid.
  • They do not fully meet product reporting and pricing requirements.

USPS introduced Intelligent Mail Indicia in 2013. Its PES give more transparent and detailed transaction data, let USPS automate back-office work, and use better security standards.

By December 2020, USPS was working with PES providers to replace every Information Based Indicia Program PES with an Intelligent Mail Indicia PES. It issued a Federal Register notice toward that end on December 4, 2020.

Rules

Mailers must place indicia in the upper-right corner of the mailpiece or label.

The indicia a PES prints must sit in the upper-right corner of the mailpiece, or of the label that carries them.

PC Postage and Meter mailers (including those that use OMAS) must use application identifier “94” for all barcode constructs. These users must also include the correct 2-digit source ID to indicate whether a 9-digit or 6-digit mailer ID is used in the barcode.

Every Intelligent Mail Package Barcode a PES prints must use the application identifier 94, whatever its construct. It must also carry the right two-digit source ID, which shows whether the barcode holds a 6-digit or a 9-digit Mailer ID.

PC Postage or Online customers whose volume is 100,000 pieces or more within a six-month period must use a six- digit MID to ensure uniqueness and accurate tracking information.

A PC Postage customer that mails 100,000 pieces or more within six months must use a six-digit Mailer ID. That keeps its tracking numbers unique and its tracking accurate.

PC Postage mailers must complete the certification process for PS Form 5630, Shipping Services file format before tendering mailings under this program, and the Postal Service will reject any files submitted by unregistered users.

A PC Postage mailer must be certified for the PS Form 5630 Shipping Services File format before it tenders mailings that use the form.

What goes wrong

A postal security device disables itself when its programmed requirements are not met or someone tries to tamper with it. It then stops printing postage.

USPS rejects any PS Form 5630 Shipping Services File sent by a PC Postage mailer that has not registered.

Terms

Postage Evidencing SystemPES
Postage meters and PC Postage products, collectivity identified as the Postage Evidencing Systems (PES) are secure postage metering systems that generate indicia imprinted on or affixed to a shipping/mailing piece to evidence prepayment of postage.
postage metermeter
A device approved by the Postal Service for manufacturer and distribution and lease to the public that can print postage in the form of an authorized postage indicia. Postage meters are available for lease only from authorized providers.
PC Postage
A hardware/software-based postage evidencing system offered by USPS-authorized providers (commercial vendors) for purchasing and printing Information-Based Indicia (IBI) postage from a personal computer, a printer, and Internet access. PC Postage product/service offerings are also available online through USPS.
indiciaindicium
Imprinted designation and markings on mail that denote postage payment (e.g., permit imprint, metered postage, and PC Postage products). Broadly, the term can include postage stamps. In many instances, the amount of postage paid is not displayed on the mailpiece. Although the term is technically the plural of indicium, indicia may be used like the term data to indicate singular or plural.
meter tape
A consumable adhesive tape used with USPS-approved postage evidencing systems (postage meters and PC Postage products) on which postage evidence in the form of an approved Information-Based Indicia (IBI) postage or non-IBI postage is imprinted.
postal security devicePSD
A USPS-approved highly secure component in a postage meter (postage evidencing system) or PC Postage product/service that manages the accounting of postal funds. The PSD has a self-disabling feature that prohibits the printing of postage when specific programmed requirements are not met or if attempted tampering occurs.
Computerized Meter Resetting SystemCMRS
An electronic system that permits users of approved postage evidencing systems to reset such devices at their places of business.
National Meter Accounting and Tracking SystemNMATS
A system that tracks the installation and setting of each Postage Evidencing System (PES) and keeps an accurate inventory of the location and settings of each system. Daily transaction files are generated by all approved PES providers and transmitted to USPS to be used to update NMATS data files.
Information-Based IndiciaIBI, IBIP, Information Based Indicia Program
a secure postage evidencing standard used by the United States Postal Service (USPS) to indicate electronic postage payment.
Intelligent Mail IndiciaIMI, Intelligent Mail Indicia - Performance Criteria, IMI-PC
The Intelligent Mail Indicia (IMI) is the current USPS Postage Evidencing System (PES) Performance Criteria (PC)
Shipping Services FileSSF, Shipping Service Files
The electronic file containing all manifest and payment information.

Documents

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