The USPS (United States Postal Service) announced two important changes that will affect the way citizens send and receive mail in 2026. These changes may seem complicated, but it’s crucial we all understand them. The changes are related to how postmark works, and how payments in cash are handled now in the US, since no pennies are minted anymore. The USPS wants people to know about the updates, so we are here to tell you all about them.
New USPS rule about postmark
One of the biggest changes started on December 24 of 2025 and it has to do with postmarks, which are the markings indicating the date when the USPS processed a letter or a package. Many people think the postmark always coincides with the exact day the mail is dropped off, but that’s not true. USPS says this is not a new rule but a clarification of how things already worked.
Many people assumed the postmark always matched the mailing date, but that was never promised. This is very important when dealing with things that require proof of mailing by a deadline, such as: election ballots, property tax payments, and claim forms for class action settlements.
If someone needs a document to be accepted before a specific date, a delayed postmark could cause issues. For this reason, the USPS recommends citizens to organize ahead to avoid missing any important deadlines.
How this affects the elections
This thing about the postmark has also concerned people about elections. In many states, the ballots sent by mail are accepted even after the Election Day, as long as it has a postmark of the same day or the day before that. At least 14 states and Washington D.D. apply what’s known as ‘’ballot grace period’’.
If the postmark can’t guarantee the exact day someone mailed their ballot, it becomes harder to prove whether the voter sent it on time. But the U.S. Supreme Court is considering removing these grace periods altogether. If that happens, ballots would have to arrive by Election Day—not just be mailed by then—so the postmark would no longer matter as much.
In the meantime, the postmark change is still a very important detail for those who vote by mail.
No more pennies
The second important change of the USPS is related to cash and the removal of pennies in the US. The U.S. Treasury Department stopped ordering blanks for pennies (material for the coins) in May 2025. This happened because producing each penny costs almost four cents, and stopping their production means saving about $56 million per year. So, the last minted pennies were produced on November 12 of 2025, ending 232 years of production.
Even though pennies are no longer produced, there are still about 300 billion pennies circulating and they are still valid. But, because new pennies are no longer being made, USPS has started rounding cash payments when exact change isn’t available (this new policy took effect on December 12, 2025). So, here’s how this works:
- Purchases will be rounded to the nearest nickel (5 cents).
- If a total ends in less than 5 cents, USPS will round up to 5 cents — unless the customer pays with exact change.
- This rounding only affects cash payments.
- Payments by debit card, credit card, or check are not rounded.
So…
Now that you know the new USPS changes, you can avoid any surprise and stay prepared for the updated mailing and payment systems this year. We know these changes might seem small, but they affect everyday life. So, share this with your friends and families in case they don’t know, everybody should know this.