The UK’s Royal Mail today launched a new service allowing Mac as well as Windows users to purchase and print postage stamps online. Customers can pay for postage online by selecting the amount for their parcel, then paying via credit card, debit card, or a pre-pay account, according to Macworld UK.

A unique barcode is printed directly onto envelopes, labels, or paper before posting in the usual manner. The new service requires no subscription fee, and costs the same amount as normal postage. Online postal options are not limited in any way, allowing users to send mail First Class or internationally. The service also allows users to print numerous forms online, according to the report.

The service is available 24 hours a day and it is hoped will reduce queues in post offices. Postage purchased online will cost no more than the normal rates.

The service is free and is different from the SmartStamp service - costing £4.99 a month - which Royal Mail says is aimed at small businesses, and provides a company logo next to the mailing print-off.

Royal Mail, whose monopoly on postal deliveries ended at the start of the year, said it believed the new service would appeal particularly to home workers and to people who sell goods via eBay and other auction sites.

The Royal Mail would not be drawn on how many people it expected to use the service in its first year.But it said that with growing take-up of broadband internet connections, it expected the service to have mass appeal. Royal Mail’s letters business made a £344m profit last year but its post office network has been losing £2m a week.

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