Saving time and money: thanks to the data matrix code, Swiss Post can automatically process undeliverable items for large companies.

LETTER ID

UBS now processing hardly any return letters

At UBS, undeliverable letters returned to the sender used to involve a great deal of effort and expense. Thanks to its use of the data matrix code, the big bank now receives hardly any physical returns.

Not every letter can be delivered. The three most common reasons for non-delivery are: the addressee cannot be determined, the recipient has moved, or the recipient has refused delivery. In these cases, Swiss Post returns the consignment to the sender.

These returns can be very expensive for companies. At UBS, for example, the total number of returns can amount to no less than hundreds of thousands of undeliverable items, despite the high address quality specific to the banking sector. These letters used to be processed manually by UBS employees. Not any more: “Thanks to the Letter ID printed by UBS, we were able to optimize and automate returns management to a remarkable extent,” says Ulrich Hoffmann, Head of Group Operations. “Compared to previously, UBS now receives virtually no physical returns.”

The bank receives a digital image of returns

The Letter ID product uses a data matrix code in the address field. This makes it possible to send UBS a digital image of the envelope with the reason for return instead of the physical returns. “We know from the data matrix code what the exact contents of the consignment are, so we can plan accordingly,” says Ulrich Hoffmann. The physical returns are discarded unopened by Swiss Post as qualified disposals, so the entire process complies with the relevant standards of banking and postal secrecy.