Washington Mutual, USPS Seek to Extend Suspension on NSA

Washington Mutual Bank and the U.S. Postal Service asked the Postal Rate Commission for permission to extend their suspension of proceedings on their negotiated service agreement until June 2, according to a document filed with the commission May 26.

The parties want to review two recent PRC filings regarding other NSAs and revise their own. In particular, they want to make revisions to historical volumes that were filed in the case.

The postal service had filed for an NSA with Washington Mutual Bank on March 29 based on encouraging the company to increase its use of First Class Mail. The USPS is seeking a three-year deal covering First Class Mail for the bank's credit card services.

An NSA is a contract between the USPS and a company, providing customized pricing incentives based on the company's mail operations. Changes in rates and mail classifications needed to implement an NSA require review and recommendation by the PRC and approval by the USPS Board of Governors.

Washington Mutual, Seattle, provides financial services for consumers and small businesses. As of Dec. 31, the company and its subsidiaries had assets of $343.1 billion. It operates 2,600 retail banking, mortgage lending, commercial banking and financial services offices nationwide.

The parties originally indicated that they either would file revisions by May 26 or renew the request for temporary suspension at that time.

The current filing said that since May 15, the parties have discussed how to address the volume issue. Though a consensus on how to proceed appears to be emerging, "the parties still require additional time to address the impact of the change in historical volumes," the filing said.