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Customers will no longer be able to use first and second class stamps when a new barcode system is introduced next year.
Brits have been urged to use their current stamps or swap them for the new ones before they expire on 31 January 2023.
Non-barcoded stamps can be exchanged for the barcoded version through Royal Mail’s ‘Swap Out’ scheme, which will open on 31 March.
Forms will be available through the Royal Mail website and Customer Service Points, with customers able to use a Freepost address.
Royal Mail said: ‘Following a successful national trial we will now be adding unique barcodes to all our regular ‘everyday’ Definitive and Christmas stamps.
‘Each barcoded stamp will have a digital twin and the two will be connected by the Royal Mail App.
‘The unique barcodes will facilitate operational efficiencies, enable the introduction of added security features and pave the way for innovative services for our customers.
‘The new barcode is an integral part of the stamp and must remain intact for the stamp to be valid.’
Customers can scan the new stamp barcodes in the Royal Mail app and will eventually be able to watch videos, information about services, or even birthday messages and other greetings from senders.
At the moment, a video featuring Shaun the Sheep, created exclusively for Royal Mail by animation studio Aardman, can be viewed.
It is the first in a series of planned videos to be released during 2022 that will allow customers sending stamped mail to choose which one the recipient can see when they receive an item of mail.
Nick Landon, Royal Mail chief commercial officer, added: ‘Introducing unique barcodes on our postage stamps allows us to connect the physical letter with the digital world and opens up the possibilities for a range of new innovative services in future.’
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