The three-year US$670m Negotiated Service Agreement with the credit card giant calls for Discover to meet agreed levels of mail volume and use the USPS Intelligent Mail bar-coding system.

In return Discover will receive incentives for exceeding its postal volume commitment, and the USPS is also promising rebates in the event of postal rate increases if certain dollar thresholds are met.  

Steve Monteith, USPS manager of transactions and correspondence mail, suggested similar agreements with other large mailers could be in the works, adding, "If we can get additional deals that we believe are wins for the Postal Service and wins for our customers, we'll pursue those in the near term."

Monteith also cites the recent introduction of Reply Rides Free - which enables billers to add additional promotions and other items to a statement and get receive rebates for the additional weight provided they stick to growth targets - as evidence USPS understands the desire of many of its large customers to turn their billing department from a cost center into a potential new revenue center.

"For printers the additional inserts creates volume so it's all about keeping their mailers in the US Mail," he told PrintWeek.

William Rivera, founder and chief executive of MMi Direct Mail, a leading Los Angeles-based provider of direct mail and digital printing with more than 80 employees, said these USPS initiatives can be adapted for both large and more regional, medium size mailers.

"I  think they are doing a much better job of inviting people in from the direct marketing side so we can talk about how they can help us do our job better," he added.

"We all know that First Class Mail has been going down as more people go online to pay bills. But at the same time, direct mail going Standard Class is probably the most cost-effective way of getting a message out, especially with all the improvements in targeting. So that's become a real winning combination."