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Deutsche Post Accelerates Shift to Automated Branches as 629 Kiosk Applications Await Review

A January rule change allows the watchdog to credit kiosks toward the required branch network.

Overview

  • Germany’s telecoms regulator reports 629 applications to count Poststation kiosks as branches, with 72 approved and four withdrawn so far.
  • If every pending request were cleared, kiosks would represent about five percent of the branch network.
  • The postal network currently includes roughly 12,600 branches, more than 900 Poststation kiosks, and about 15,600 parcel-only Packstations.
  • Regional approvals highlight a rural focus, including 17 kiosk branches in North Rhine-Westphalia, five in Rhineland-Palatinate, and three in Saxony-Anhalt.
  • End of September data show 160 mandated locations lacked a branch; Deutsche Post says it has solutions for about half, as municipalities and disability advocates question usability and inclusion while a lawmaker urges kiosks remain the exception.