Royal Mail & CWU National Joint Statement Displaying Preferred Names Via the Royal Mail App
As Branches and Representatives will be aware, as the market leader in the UK, Royal Mail intends to lead the market in consumer (i.e. receiving) customer experience. Improvements in technology among Royal Mail’s competitors in the postal sector is leading to increasing customer expectations over the information provided regarding their inbound mail. There is also an increasing trend amongst consumers in mobile consumption of Royal Mail’s information, access to services and demand for speed and greater personalisation.
‘Postie in Your Pocket’ (PIYP)
This initiative seeks to improve ‘user experience’ aiming to put trust at the doorstep at the heart of consumers’ interaction with Royal Mail.
The new Royal Mail App will make the top customer needs ‘user-friendly’ with the key initial changes being:
- A redesigned homepage to offer a personalised and more intuitive experience
- Display the name of the customer, their local CSP and today’s Delivery OPG, as many of our competitors do today
- Inform a customer of Tracked items today, their Estimated Delivery Window and who will be delivering them
- A more secure registration journey which validates the user
Sensitivity Regarding Displaying The Name Of Who Is Delivering A Tracked Item
Royal Mail and the CWU are acutely aware that not every Delivery OPG and Delivery Colleagues may want their name or want the first name they use to register for a PDA log-in. to be displayed.
Therefore, within the Settings screen of the PDA there is the ability to change the name to be displayed as a preferred name and also the ability to opt-out altogether. In the event that the Delivery colleague opts out the words ‘Your Postie’ will appear in the new Royal Mail App used by consumers. It is jointly recognised that the final decision of choice in this regard will be determined by the individual Delivery OPG, recognising also that individual’s circumstances and experiences may change over time. Therefore, this decision will be maintained for any individuals who may wish to change what name or registered user name is chosen and displayed on the App. This will also be extended for any other similar products and services in the future.
Use of data
- No new data will be collected beyond a preferred name.
- Preferred names and opt-out choices will not be used for any other purposes in line with our agreements.
- The new Royal Mail App will not display progress of an item or of a Delivery Officer (e.g. as competitors show; “you are delivery #29 and we are currently on #26”). To confirm there will be no route “real time” visibility for customers of items or OPG’s whilst they are performing their delivery routes.
Royal Mail and the CWU re-confirm fully to those joint commitments to the use of data, individual’s rights, privacy for individuals and the use of technology which are set out in section (17. Data Usage) of the Guiding Principles National Agreement and section (2.5 Technology) within the Key Principles-Pathway to Change National Agreement.
Review/ Summary
Royal Mail and the CWU both understand the importance of being able to offer consumers a first-class digital experience to enhance the trust that already exists on the doorstep. Both parties will continue to review any operational impacts or individual’s experiences through the launch of the App at a National Level with all information and any data being shared with the CWU in order to fully undertake the review. The new Royal Mail App will be available for download from 22ndOctober 2021.
In addition, Royal Mail will continue to work jointly with the Union going forward with any further enhancements, developments or changes to the App going forward, subject to National Discussions and joint rollout.
Further, any issues or difficulties experienced from this service within the locality, will be raised to the signatures of this Joint Statement Nationally for resolution and subject to the IR Framework.
Any queries to the content of the above please contact the Outdoor Department reference 230.03, email address: njones@cwu.org
Yours sincerely,
Mark Baulch
CWU Assistant Secretary
LTB 438/21 – Displaying Preferred Names Via the Royal Mail App 12.10.21
Att: JS – Displaying preferred names – PIYP – October 2021
Att: D19.2 Log In to PDA Swap Battery Restart Log Out Process
CWU Eastern No5 Branch 
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