A report by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) recommends that the U.S. Postal Service consider expanding its line of non-postal products and services, including Notary services, in an effort to increase the agency’s revenue and enhance value to local communities.
The Inspector General’s Advisory, titled 21st Century Post Office: Non Postal Products and Services, was released on the heels of newly proposed legislation that created a commission to address the challenges currently faced by the Postal Service, and to help strategize a plan to generate new revenue opportunities.
In addition to offering Notary services, the report suggests that the U.S.P.S. could provide public Internet access, banking services such as check cashing, advertising opportunities at U.S. Postal offices and on Postal Service vehicles, facility leasing, and warehousing.
Postmasters quoted in the report further recommended that the agency could provide fax and photocopying services, passport services, ATM machines, greeting cards, job services and community support facilities.
The OIG recommends the Postal Service create a strategy to identify, evaluate and offer the products and services considered most valuable to the communities they serve, thereby better serving the needs of their communities and generating higher revenue.
Kelle Clarke is a Contributing Editor with the National Notary Association.