Watch out USPS, there's a new company seeking to put an end to your reign of junk mail guardians. Zumbox aims to be an all-digital alternative to the paper U.S. Postal Service (USPS). Think of it as suped up email, that creates a secure electronic mailbox for every residential physical address in the United States and allows residents to receive and send scanned, physical representation of letters, bills or other items you would normally receive in paper mail.
The company is able to deliver mail seven days a week that is accessible from anywhere in the world, which should appeal to snowbirds who split their time between residences, those who travel often for work or pleasure, and those who just can't remember to bring in the mail until the box is overflowing.
Zumbox, currently in beta testing mode, is free for everyone except advertisers and marketers who must pay five cents per special offer (a.k.a. “junk mail”) sent. The California-based company is betting that this will appeal to marketers because it is significantly cheaper than using USPS, yet it still allows them to target known addresses and geographical areas.
Glen Ward, Zumbox President, envisions Zumbox becoming a central clearinghouse for billing statements. While many consumers already use online bill pay, the advantage to this system is that it is tied to the consumer’s physical address that the biller already knows. Billing companies do not have to wait for the consumer to sign up; they can just start sending electronic print runs of their bills to Zumbox, which files the bills until the consumer activates their mailbox.
The high-powered email system has been designed to meet even the toughest security standards, including the medical-record HIPAA law. This, if you think about it, is a vast improvement over the current snail mail system where in many locations your personal information just sits in a flimsy, often unlocked box at the end of your driveway all day.
To sign up, consumers enter their name and address into the system and then wait for a personalized PIN to be mailed by USPS - a bit ironic, dont you think? This closes the loop and is intended to ensure that identity thieves don’t hijack addresses.
Rivals to Zumbox include Earth Class Mail, which works by diverting physical mail to the company who scans it and forwards it to a secure digital address. Earth Class Mail charges the consumer a monthly fee and provides services geared towards a more business-oriented consumer rather than the residential market.
Will the technologies eventually replace snail mail? Only time will tell. What we do know is that the USPS is losing money faster than John Edwards at a beauty salon, and at this rate, it may soon cost more to send a letter than to drive it to wherever you're sending to. Something has to give.
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