Seamless Acceptance

Seamless Acceptance automates the entry and verification of commercial mailings by leveraging electronic documentation, Intelligent Mail barcodes (IMbs), and information collected from handheld sampling devices and mail processing equipment scans.

For information regarding the Seamless Incentive, please click here.

Who should use Seamless Acceptance?

Seamless Acceptance is for Full-Service Mailers participating in eInduction.

Description

The benefits of Seamless Acceptance include:

  • Flexibility to prepare and submit a single job rather than multiple jobs (Longer mail production cycle)
    • Dispatch by job or container completion
    • Release containers by your own schedule/timeline
  • Verifications performed electronically reducing complexity
  • Control of postage payment in mailer's hands through auto-finalization
  • Greater feedback and identification of trends (Mailer Scorecard and associated reports)

Criteria for participation in Seamless Acceptance include:

  • Mailers must participate in Full-Service
    • Mailings must be submitted using eDoc
    • All containers, trays, and pieces must contain a unique Intelligent Mail Barcode
    • Piece data information must be submitted
  • Participation in eInduction is required

To ensure a smooth transition, mailers participating in Seamless Acceptance are first moved into a "Seamless Parallel" process where both the mailer and the USPS can view the results of automated verifications, but the mailer continues to be assessed using the traditional manual acceptance and verification processes. This allows both the USPS and the mailer time to evaluate mail quality, review and revise business processes, and address any software issues. Additional postage is not collected during the Seamless Parallel process providing both the mailer and the USPS the opportunity to prepare the environment for a Seamless Acceptance process.

Mailers are moved into Seamless Acceptance after they have successfully maintained all mail quality measurements within the recommended threshold for error percentages for a minimum of one calendar month.

Featured Resources

Fact Sheets
08/18/2022
Seamless Acceptance Undocumented Mail Fact Sheet

Provides insight into the source of undocumented error reporting, common causes, and best practices.

FAQs
11/20/2020
Seamless Acceptance Incentive FAQs

FAQs for the incentive for mailings that are submitted under the Seamless Acceptance program.

Tech Guides
12/01/2020
Guide to Seamless Acceptance

The Seamless Acceptance guide has been made part of the Publication for Streamlined Mail Acceptance for Letters and Flats.

Fact Sheets
09/14/2022
Seamless Acceptance: Mailer Fact Sheet

Participation Criteria To participate in Seamless Acceptance all pieces must be uniquely barcoded, included in electronic documentation (eDoc) and mailers must meet the following requirements

Publications
Publication for Streamlined Mail Acceptance for Letters and Flats (Pub 685)

Streamlined Mail Acceptance for Letters and Flats (Pub 685) contains the policies and processes for the verification of eligible business mailings using tools provided by Intelligent Mail® Full-Service, eInduction, and Seamless Acceptance.

Tech Guides
10/27/2017
Guide to Postage Assessment

For postage assessment information please see the attached guide to Streamlined Mail Acceptance for Letters and Flats.

User Guides
Guide to the Mailer Scorecard

The Postal Service provides mailers with access to a mail quality tool, the Mailer Scorecard, which displays a dashboard view of the results of the letter and flat mailing activity within each of these initiatives over a calendar month.

Related Products

Seamless Acceptance Incentive

Information for the Seamless Acceptance incentive which began on January 24, 2021 and is ongoing.

eInduction

The electronic Induction (eInduction) process simplifies the induction of drop shipments and expedited plant load mailings by leveraging existing eDoc, Intelligent Mail Container barcode (IMcb), and handheld scanner technologies to verify payment and preparation of commercial mail containers.

Mailer Scorecard

The Mailer Scorecard provides a dashboard view of the results of the letter and flat mailing activity with the Postal Service over a calendar month. This view is available to both the mailer who submitted the electronic documentation for the mailing (eDoc submitter) and the mail owner/mail preparer. 

Electronic Documentation (eDoc)

To participate in Full-Service Intelligent Mail®, mailers must submit information electronically. This computer-consumable version replaces existing hardcopies and includes the following: postage statement and qualification report.

Intelligent Mail® Barcode

The Intelligent Mail® barcode (IMb) is used to sort and track letters, cards and flats and offers greater versatility by allowing many services to be requested and embedded within one barcode. The Intelligent Mail barcode combines the data of the existing POSTNET™ and the PLANET Code® barcodes, as well as other data, into a single barcode. 

Contact

For questions about Intelligent Mail Services, please call us at (800) 522-9085 or email IntelligentMailSupport@USPS.GOV.