Q: What does YouPost do? 
A: YouPost is a secure new online tool that takes care of the important things you need to do, all in one place. It helps you sort, organise and pay your bills. You can pay right there, or plan ahead by scheduling payments. You can also use YouPost to store digital backups of your legal documents, warranties, manuals and any other important things you want to keep safe. And it's available on multiple devices – from laptops to your mobile phone – so anywhere you go, it goes. 

Q: How is YouPost better than email?
A: Email has security issues, is constantly assailed by spam, has virtually no functionality for billing, paying etc. Email is essentially a ‘dumb’ channel that data is shoved through which the receiver is left to sort out. YouPost cuts the clutter, is secure, and gives the receiver functionality on one platform. It puts the user in control as you decide what you allow into your digital mailbox.

Q: How can YouPost be accessed?
A: YouPost can be accessed via multiple devices, which means it's been designed specifically to be accessed anytime, anywhere. It will be launched with mobile apps for Android and iPhone as well as being accessible by web browser.

Q: When will YouPost be available to the market?
A: We expect YouPost to be launched directly to customers of companies that have signed up as senders before the end of 2012. A wider general launch is expected in the first quarter of 2013.

Q: What is the security level for YouPost?
A: The YouPost platform is aligned to the following security and privacy standards:

• ISO/IEC 27002:2006 
• Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) 
• Cloud Security Alliance 
• European Cloud Computing Security Risk Assessment 
• NZ Privacy Act 1993 

In addition, a YouPost Security Framework has been produced.

Mail House: Documents and data sent to YouPost from a Mail House or direct sender will be secured in a number of ways:

• All data and documents will be encrypted in transit using an industry standard protocol such as AS2 or sFTP (multiple protocols will be supported) 
• Mail House and YouPost platforms will identify each other using strong authenticate mechanisms. 

Web Site: The YouPost web site has the following security controls:

• Four tiered network, with the tiers separated by firewalls 
• A web application firewall is installed in the proxy layer 
• Before go live, the site will be penetration tested and any security issues identified will be 
• remediated 
• Penetration testing will be repeated after any major functionality or technology change 

Data: Data is secured by:

• All web traffic will be https, including document downloads 
• All content from the mail houses is stored in a secure New Zealand based data centre 
• All data and documents are encrypted at rest using disk encryption 
• All application logs are sent to a log server, which has access control 
• Removable backup media is encrypted on tape before sending to an offsite location for secure 
• storage 
• User uploaded content is stored using the Google Cloud Storage service 

Process:

• Risk assessment has been conducted and controls applied to the risks identified 
• Administration access to the servers is controlled 
• Segregation of duty split between the platform developers and the platform administrators 

Q: How many major senders have you got on board?
A: Details are commercially sensitive, but we’ve had a great response so far with several major organisations signing up. YouPost will grow and evolve and we are confident of meeting sign-on targets once we go to market.

Q: Won’t YouPost cut into or cannibalise your traditional letter mail market?
A: The decline in letter mail volumes is rapid and irreversible. This is a worldwide trend. Mail volumes in New Zealand have fallen 20% in the last decade and are forecast to fall at least another 20% in the next five years. While the physical segment of the market has contracted, the digital one is expanding.

YouPost is simply New Zealand Post responding by providing a service that is appropriate to a new and expanding segment of the market and meeting customer needs. Similarly, New Zealand Post sees great opportunities in the growth of parcel mail.

The explosion in digital messaging and storage in the past decade has seen a dramatic divergence in the GDP Index and mail volumes. Historically these were closely linked, but they parted ways in an ever widening gap from the early 2000’s. This gap is known as the “technology wedge” and is the space where New Zealand Post sees tremendous opportunities for services such as YouPost.