This year's World Post Day theme, "One postal network, infinite possibilities," captures a truth the sector knows well: Post is so much more than letters and parcels. With more than 660,000 post offices worldwide, the Post is often the only public institution within reach in rural and remote areas and is backed by generations of trust built between staff and the communities they serve. Governments are increasingly leveraging this asset to extend essential digital services to the 2.2 billion people who remain offline, opening new financial sustainability pathways for postal operators.
That combination of reach and trust matters most for the people digital transformation tends to leave behind – rural communities, women, MSMEs, the elderly and other vulnerable populations – who are increasingly expected to move to online banking, health and government services. A properly connected post office can offer a stable internet connection and a helping hand to enroll for a digital identity, receive digital payments, or access official communications securely. For governments, this can be the difference between simply offering services online and making them accessible to everyone. (....)