USPS contract postal unit bonds.
Quote on review.
A store running a Contract Postal Unit (CPU) for the U.S. Postal Service generally must post a CPU bond when USPS consigns stamp stock and meter postage to it, guaranteeing that postal property is accounted for. USPS sizes it to the unit’s accountability; a specialist quotes it, usually within one business day.
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Built around your CPU contract.
USPS will not consign stamp stock beyond what your bond covers. Here is the whole process, from contract award to a bond on file:
Send us the contract details
Apply online with your USPS contract number, the contract unit location, your entity details, and the bond amount your contracting officer has set. If you are incorporated, add your state of incorporation.
A surety specialist underwrites it
A specialist reviews the amount USPS requires and your file, then returns a quote. The application includes a soft-pull credit consent that never affects your score. Larger accountability can require collateral, and we tell you before you commit.
Execute & deliver to USPS
Once you bind, we issue the executed bond with the power of attorney attached, from a Treasury-listed surety, ready to deliver to your USPS contracting officer. The host Post Office keeps the original on file.
What it is and who needs it.
What the CPU bond actually guarantees
A Contract Postal Unit sells stamps, ships packages and takes money orders under the Postal Service’s name, but it is your business, staffed by your employees. On a firm-fixed-price CPU, USPS hands the unit its stamp stock on consignment and sets its postage meter, and the unit reports sales daily on PS Form 1412. USPS owns that stock until it is sold, and the bond guarantees you account for it. USPS’s own purchasing manual, Supplying Principles and Practices sec. 7-3.1.4, says Contract Postal Unit bonds impose obligations similar to performance, payment, and fidelity bonds.
The amount is set per unit. USPS Handbook F-101 (Field Accounting Procedures) directs the host Post Office to verify that a CPU’s total accountability never exceeds its bonded amount, and ties the unit’s stock limit to its bond limit: in the handbook’s own example, a unit with a $4,000 bond limit may hold a maximum of $3,000 in stamp stock. The host office checks the unit’s accountability against its bond during stamp credit counts held at least once a fiscal year, so a growing unit may need its bond increased.
Not every CPU is bonded. A USPS OIG audit describes the bond as required of firm-fixed-price units that hold consigned stock and report sales daily, while Village Post Offices, which buy their own stamps, do not provide one. USPS also accepts an irrevocable letter of credit or a cashier’s check on deposit instead of a surety bond, and any corporate surety must appear on Treasury Department Circular 570 — individual sureties are not accepted. A surety bond keeps your cash free for the store.
You need this bond if you are
One application, one underwriting review.
These are the actual underwriting fields — your USPS contract number, the contract unit location, your entity details, and the bond amount on your contract. Submit once and a surety specialist reviews everything together and returns a quote, typically within one business day. Free until your bond is issued.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other Federal bonds.
Get your Contract Postal Unit bonded.
Send us your USPS contract number and the amount your contracting officer set, and a surety specialist sizes, underwrites, and quotes the bond — typically within one business day. Free until issued.