Banking on tradition

Some analysts would like to see the USPS extend its reach and range of services for the Internet age. Arnum, for one, views the USPS as a perfect institution to handle the issuing of digital certificates and money transfers.

"Why do I have to get a money order and mail it to someone? Why can't I go into a post office and give them $20 and have [the recipient] go into his or her post office and get it, cut out the paper middleman?" Arnum asks. "Unfortunately, they would be competing with Western Union and PayPal, but again, you just can't beat them for physical presence."

As they move online, postal services will face the problem of differentiating themselves from third-party companies offering similar services. But national postal services are banking on their histories and the long-standing trust in their services to keep their ventures afloat.

"There's no doubt, if you want to be successful on the Internet, that aligning yourself with the postal service probably isn't a bad idea. We hope to play that trump card an awful lot," Nolan says.

Canada Post's Caines agrees, noting that "with the postal service, there's a sanctity of the mail. People feel very secure when they put something in the system that it won't be opened until it gets to the addressee; we offer that same kind of security and sanctity through an electronic post office box."