The process of stamping mails is also known as “franking”, giving the machine used for this purpose its name. A franking machine or postage meter is therefore, a machine that helps stick postage stamps to a large number of mails that one needs to send out. Franking does not require the use of regular postage stamps.

Companies typically send out mails in large volumes—particularly, monthly invoices, direct marketing mails and special occasion greeting cards etc. Affixing postage stamps manually in such cases can be very tedious, and therein lays the utility of the franking machine.

There are different types of franking machines available to businesses depending on their postage requirements. While some of these units can stamp 100 letters a day, there are other models available that can stamp up to 10,000 mails each week.

Franking machines are generally used by government organizations, companies in the service industry, publishing and direct marketing industries that have a continuous and high volume of mailing. By having franking machines in an office, an organization can “frank” the large volumes of mail in-house and avoid queuing up at the local post office. Besides the benefit of time savings, franking the mail also provides lower cost posting privileges.

The practice of franking bulk mails originated in the 17th century in the British House of Commons. Only elected officials had the privilege to use such franked mails which carried the signature or name of the elected official instead of a regular postage stamp. The term franking machine is more commonly used in Europe (terms like postage meter or mailing machine is more commonly used in the US).

Renting franking machines – a common practice

Franking machines are usually rented and rarely owned. Invariably, the use of franking machines is regulated by a country’s postal authority. The rate of postage that is applicable for mails stamped with a franking machine is also pre-decided by the postal authority.

However, postal authorities only regulate the process while the machines are sold by private suppliers. The stamps usually carry the logo, advertisement of the company or the return address along with a two dimensional bar code that carries important information such as: rate category, date of mailing, postage amount, meter ID and licensing post office. Most machines have prepaid postage with the value reducing with the usage of stamps.

One of the features of franking machines is their versatility and usefulness in stamping all kinds of mails [for eg. domestic or international in terms of destination, or size of mail etc.]. Of course, bulk mailing often requires a special permit from the postal authority and may also require special stamps.

To summarize, franking machines make ideal utility tools for businesses because:

• They are cost effective given the lower cost of postage.
• The custom stamps give a more professional look to business mails, and contribute to propagating a company’s brand.
• The meter never runs out of stamps and it is easy to pay for additional stamp charges through phone or by credit card.
• All types of mail can be stamped using a single machine.