The Facing Identification Mark, or FIM, is a bar code designed by the United States Postal Service to assist in the automated processing of mail. The FIM is a set of vertical bars printed on the envelope or postcard near the upper edge, just to the left of the postage area (the area where the postage stamp or its equivalent is placed). The FIM is intended for use primarily on preprinted envelopes and postcards and is applied by the company printing the envelopes or postcards, not by the USPS. Wikipedia encoded in Code 128_B A barcode (also bar code) is a machine-readable representation of information in a visual format on a surface. ... A USPS truck in San Francisco A smaller truck used in suburban areas This article describes the United States Postal Service. ... A British pillar box The postal system is a system by which written documents typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages containing other matter, are delivered to destinations around the world. ... This 1974 stamp from Japan depicts a Class 8620 steam locomotive. ...

The FIM is a nine-bit code consisting of ones (vertical bars) and zeroes (blank spaces). The following four codes are in use:

• FIM A: 110010011
• FIM B: 101101101
• FIM C: 110101011
• FIM D: 111010111

The FIM serves the following purposes. It allows the proper facing of mail for cancellation. It also identifies the manner in which postage is paid (e.g., business reply mail or Information Based Indicia (IBI) postage) and whether that business reply mail has a POSTNET bar code. If the POSTNET bar code is present, the mail can be sent directly to a barcode sorter. Freepost is a postal service provided by various postal authorities, whereby a person sends mail without affixing postage, and the recipient pays the postage when collecting the mail. ... Information Based Indicia refers to a system used by the United States Postal Service for labels or marks to be applied to the mail item to indicate electronic postage payment. ... POSTNET is a barcode symbology that is used by the United States Postal Service to assist in directing mail. ...

The four codes have the following uses:

• FIM A is used for courtesy reply mail and metered reply mail with a preprinted POSTNET bar code. In both of these types of mail, the postage is prepaid, either by a postage stamp in the case of courtesy reply mail or by a postage meter in the case of metered reply mail.
• FIM B is used for business reply mail without a preprinted ZIP+4 bar code.
• FIM C is used for business reply mail with a preprinted ZIP+4 bar code.
• FIM D is used only with IBI postage.

A postage meter is a electro-mechanical device for producing evidence of postage (see mail). ...

External links

• "Designing Letter and Reply Mail," from the USPS (PDF file)