Royal Mail stamps without barcode to be defunct in 100 days
Royal Mail has announced stamps without barcodes will no longer be valid from January 31 2023.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Royal Mail is urging people to use stamps without a barcode by January 31 2023, when they cease to be valid.
The change affects ordinary stamps featuring Queen Elizabeth II, which must be used before the deadline exactly 100 days from Monday.
The barcoded stamps will continue to feature an image of the late Queen.
The postal service previously launched a stamp swap scheme for people to exchange their old stamps for new ones.
Special stamps with pictures on and Christmas stamps without a barcode will continue to be valid and don’t need to be swapped out.
The barcoded stamps were introduced in February as part of a move to modernise the service, and to allow enhanced security features, Royal Mail said.
It also said barcodes will “enable exciting new services by connecting physical stamps to the digital world”, such as exclusive videos available by scanning the codes in an app.
To exchange, people must send their non barcoded stamps to Royal Mail, along with an exchange form which can be printed or requested via an online form.