Denmark And Sweden To Use Text Messages To Pay Postage

Stamp collecting may be on the way out in Scandinavia.

The Danish post office, starting on April 1, will have a system in place to allowing users to pay for mail with a text message. To send a letter, a user sends a text message and a special code is sent back, which is simply written on the envelope.

A similar system is being considered in Sweden, according to Anders Åsberg, head of marketing and development with the Swedish postal service, known as Posten AB. He told news outlets in Sweden that allowing people to pay for postage with mobile phones will make sending letters easier.

Many will still send letters, he said, as well as parcels, and the text can pay for postage for parcels up to two kilograms (4.4 pounds).

Åsberg said the risk of forged codes is no greater than it is with ordinary stamps.

Postage rates won't go up, he said, once the system is introduced.

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