Sweden’s postal service to swap stamps for text messages
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The Swedes are going postal –- though with text messages instead of stamps.
The Swedish postal service, Posten AB, is looking to launch a system wherein letter and package senders pay for postage using their mobile phones, according to English-language paper the Local.
Taking a page from the Danes, who are starting a similar system in April, Swedes would send a text message that would bounce back with a code. The code would be written down in place of a stamp as proof of payment.
The system, which won’t go into effect before summer, would work with letters and packages up to about 4 1/2 pounds, according to Anders Asberg, head of marketing and development with Posten AB.
The postal service doesn’t plan to raise rates and isn’t concerned about the risk of forged codes.
Scandinavian stamp collectors might want to develop a fondness for numbers, and soon.
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