5 Major Advantages of using Post Office Money Transfer service as opposed to other Operators

Money transfer services are dominating the financial services industry in Africa. This is for obvious reasons that include; employee remuneration, family support, loan delivery, payment of installments, etc. Options for transferring cash from one location to the other are many and the post office stands out in many but five qualities.

Please note that this is with respect to African post offices yet other continents may identify with these.

1. Price competitive. The post office stands out for offering price competitive services. You may have to compromise a few things with other services but when it comes to money transfer, there is nothing that gets compromised at using the post office.
2. Extended network. In Africa, the far reaching formal business network is through the post office. Banks and other financial service providers cannot match the post office in terms of physical network coverage. Many service providers, including the banks, opt to join hands and work with the post office to reach the furthest parts of any country in Africa. Postal administration are a global network, beyond what the banks can do. Banks do network but most often it means more charges to the customer.
3. No withdrawal fees. In some countries, mobile money, that is normally offered through cell phone networks would charge for both cash deposits and withdrawals, the same applies with the banks. It is not the case with the post office, the only person that gets charged is the sender and the recipient get his or her money as is.

4. Reliability. The post office has embraced technology and many African post offices have automated their counters. This  makes the post office to be more accountable and reliable in service offering. Most counter automation for postal administration is customized and not off the shelve. This makes the service even friendlier to the customers.
5. Cash assurance. The post office is often healthy in cash flow. Even if at any point a particular postal branch runs out of cash, there is reliable back up from nearby outlets. Mobile money that works with rural grocery shops and other similar businesses get limited by the cash liquidity of these outlets. These outlets most often are not related such that they cannot share their cash freely.


I do appreciate that many people, particularly those that do work for the post office and those that do not have relatives working there have limited knowledge about some of the excellent services offered in the post office. It is good news to know that the post office can thrive on the money transfer service and leverage on its advantages.

How long will it take for my posted item to be delivered?

The post office works slightly different from a courier company. When you post an item through the post box, it will be collected from there once a while, normally in intervals of 30 minutes. Street posting boxes may be collected a little bit less frequent yet they also should be cleared at least once a day. You also must observe critical times as highlighted in the post 'How to quicken delivery of your postal item', point number 2.

Sorting is the process of separating items according to destination and it is a process that follows after collection at the posting box. If your item has been received before the critical time, it will connect to the next sorting centre on the same day or within 12 hours. The last step is sorting to destination office by the sorting centre. Finally, your item will then be delivered to a post box.

Depending on the size of the operation, the distance between origin and destination, the item delivery standards vary. It is expected for the postal administrator to publicise delivery standards according to destination categories. Rural to rural, rural to urban, urban to urban, international and regional will should be made known to customers.

 

the global standard is 6 days at 80 percent, which unfortunately most postal administrations struggle to meet, particularly because they have no influence when the items or mail bags have gone beyond the boundaries of their country.

 

This knowledge will help you make an estimate of the time it will take for your item to get delivered to your destination office.

 

Photo taken from: http://www.savethepostoffice.com/how-slowing-down-standard-mail-paves-way-ending-saturday-delivery

How do you know if your postal item will be traceable in the Post Office?

Tracing and item is a premium service in the post office. Not all items sent through the post office will be traceable. This is because the post office will accept almost any type of mail for delivery at minimal fees, and yes the post office is popular for cheap rates. 

Ordinary items, mostly letters, are not traceable because they are not allocated any bar code at the time of posting. This means that even if the mail bags they will be enclosed to is traceable, but ordinary items inside wont be known. All the post office can trace is the mail bag to a particular destination, which may or may not contain your ordinary item inside.

Some parcels, known as small packets, may not be traceable because they have features of an ordinary letter. 

Rule of thumb for traceable items:

1. If you have to deliver the item at the counter to have it posted, then it most likely will be traceable. Most such items are allocated a track and trace bar code. You will be given this par code most of the times yet in some cases you may not. Keep the code for future use in case your item needs to be traced. Some postal administrations provide self track and trace service through their websites while others would do the tracking for you when you call. 

2. If the item has an additional charge other than postage, it most likely qualifies for being allocated a tracking bar code.

3. If the item is posted under specific parcel service within the post office, such as EMS, then it will definitely be traceable through a bar code.

The Bold Desired Customer

If you want to be sure, it is encouraged for you to inquire as to whether your item will be traceable or not. Postal or counter officers will be happy to assist. Ask to find out if you can do the track and tracing yourself or you have to call in for assistance. you will gladly be given the information.

Quality of Service in the Post Office

The African continent had to adopt globally acceptable standards of handling mail otherwise the global postal industry would be weaker in the continent, yet the postal operation is a network across continents. The Universal Postal Union (UPU) committed resources to help the region in various ways, including strategic regional quality of service projects. 

A checklist of quality pointers was developed at global level, reviewed whenever required, to use as a benchmark for the ultimate. Even though it is not an ISO certification but the checklist does not compromise on any quality feature for any reason. The target is largely on international mail handling, including parcels and registered items. All countries should comply and not, they are scored low and it is a public notice to all operators. 

This exercise has help African postal administrations to improve its quality a lot. Rest assured when sending your item through the post office that the global eye of UPU is watching the operators and therefore your item is in good hands. 

Did you know that post offices are Globally Linke?

The post office is government by the United Nations under the organisation of the Universal Postal Union (UPU). Post offices are linked globally, which means what you get from one post office in one part of the world could be a service you can find in another across continents. For that reason I may refer to the post office as the entire network of postal outlets in the many postal administrations across the world.

The network is a strength in that prices are somewhat controlled and discussed on behalf of the customer. Example, sending money across countries is most likely cheaper through the post office than any other conveyor. I actually can attest to for money transfer services with the SADC region.

I was surprised to learn that some people grow up to the age of tertiary without having put a foot in the post office. I discovered this a few years ago when we, in SwaziPost, had internees from the University of Swaziland, where one internee confessed so.

It is therefore imperative that I bring to public attention the existence of the post office. I can assure you that older generations have better understanding than today's, and information sharing for our generation is here online.

Enjoy this blog. 

Me doing this!

I have worked for the post office from 1st May 2001 up to today. Been to several workshops and met a number of officials from across the world on postal business. Like any other business, I believe the post office has a role to play and it can survive the economic changes.