Digitization is having an impact on society. New technologies are making our everyday lives ever simpler. Swiss Post is also at the center of this development. Today, it offers its customers solutions for sending both physical and digital information.
The Federal Council now recognizes the needs of society and, in conjunction with the amendment of the universal service obligation of Swiss Post, it recommends making the digital letter part of the postal service from 2026. The universal service obligation defines the minimum range of public services to which Swiss Post is legally obliged. This forms the basis for Swiss Post’s services.
Swiss Post already offers its customers a solution for digital letters with its ePost communication platform. The platform enables private and business customers to receive and send correspondence digitally and securely.
How does receiving consignments with ePost work?
The ePost communication platform allows public authorities to receive consignments digitally and physically. The physical correspondence is scanned and can then be processed completely digitally: this means the authorities receive not only a digital document. They can process all their correspondence centrally and fully electronically, automate it, and in so doing, speed up their processes. Digital receipt of invoices is also possible.
How does sending consignments with ePost work?
Business customers can use the ePost platform to send their business correspondence to their customers via the channel of their choice, for example digitally in the ePost App, as an e-bill, e-mail or SMS. Physical dispatch by letter post is also possible.
The ePost communication platform helps public authorities in particular to organize their printing and mailing departments more efficiently and save costs. Shipping volumes can also be optimized, because you physically send only what is actually needed. This is because residents who prefer digital delivery receive the same information securely and in encrypted form directly in the ePost App.
Why can’t digital letters be sent by e-mail?
Normal e-mails are as easy for cyber criminals to read as a postcard. For this reason, there are considerably higher security standards when it comes to transferring mail secrecy into the digital world: ePost meets the security requirements of the Swiss Data Protection Act (FADP) and the international standards of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). All data and documents undergo multi-level encryption and are stored in Switzerland. Only the recipients can read and process their digital mail.