Postal office adjusts to dwindling role

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - The U.S. Postal Service is looking at closing some branches because people just aren't using the mail as much as they used to. The postal service is considering closing the Circle Center branch on North Meridian Street, the Bridgeport branch on West Washington Street and the west Indianapolis branch on South Belmont Avenue.

Part of the reason is the recession, but there's more to it than that. People are conducting more of their business -- and correspondence -- online.

At Citizens Gas, customers can pay their monthly bill without ever using a stamp.

"The majority of customers use the mail to pay their bill, but we are seeing continual growth in those electronic payments," said Dan Considine, Citizens Gas spokesperson.

Some 66,000 Citizens customers now pay their bills online, compared to around 20,000 just a few years ago. It means people are using fewer stamps, which equals less income for the postal service.

"People are doing less letter writing, more e-mailing," said postal service spokesman Kim Yates.

Even people who spent years paying their bills through the mail are becoming converts.

"I was always afraid of doing things online, but have developed a comfort level with that after using it for several years and now find it far more convenient than using the regular mail," said an Indianapolis woman.

A company called First Data expects that two thirds of all bills will be paid electronically by 2012.

But some still prefer the paper.

"I'm a little afraid of some kind of Internet hackers or whatever. So that's why I really don't, I avoid it if I can," said an Indianapolis resident.

But the trend appears obvious to the point where the postal service is getting rid of some of its blue mailboxes.

"It saves us the time and manpower and fuel of going to a collection box that's empty when you get there," said Yates.

The postal service says online bill paying is partly to blame for its lost income, but that the recession is responsible as well.