NNA POSTAL ALERT: Publishers should immediately migrate Central Postage Payment (CAPS) accounts to USPS electronic postal payment system to avoid interruptions

Nov 18, 2020

The U.S. Postal Service set a drop-dead date of August 20, 2020, for commercial mailers to close their Centralized Account Processing System (CAPS) accounts for postage payments and instead use Enterprise Payment System (EPS.) That deadline has not been observed, but USPS now says enforcement will begin shortly. The EPS system is set up as an instant debit from the payer’s bank account through an Automated Clearing House (ACH) process.

Publishers using hard-copy checks to fund local postal trust accounts will not be immediately affected, but USPS says those accounts too will be required to migrate to EPS. Any mailer currently using local trust accounts MAY choose to migrate immediately.

As COVID-19 disruptions have affected USPS systems, the final ending of the CAPS system has been somewhat delayed. But mailings paid for under CAPS could be interrupted if publishers have not completed their migration before USPS pulls the plug.

The advisory from USPS linked below explains how to set up the EPS system.
https://postalpro.usps.com/eps/migration-date