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Return to the February 2010 issue of the SMS Register.
What Standard Mailers Need to Know About "Move Update" & NCOA
February 2010 — Looking for a way to reduce your mailing costs and your impact on the environment at the same time? Cleaning up your mailing list is a great place to start.
Approximately 43 million individuals, families and businesses move each year. Break it down, and that’s more than 800,000 each week, or nearly 120,000 every day — and a lot of their mail isn’t following them. According to an independent study, in 2004 the U.S. Postal Service handled 9.7 billion pieces of mail that were Undeliverable As Addressed (UAA), at a cost of almost $2 billion. And despite the fact that most of those folks left a valid forwarding address, nearly 60 percent of these pieces were ultimately discarded. That’s a lot of trees.
In an attempt to curb the problem, in 2008 the USPS enacted its Move Update rules for Standard A mailers, effectively forcing list owners to do what good business practice suggests they should have been doing all along. In short, those rules require that Standard A mailers validate their mailing lists for correct addresses and occupants (subscribers) within 95 days of each mailing in order to claim automation or presort discounts; records that are not validated every 95 days in accordance with Move Update become UAA and no longer qualify for discounted rates.
To ensure compliance, the USPS initially required publishers to sign PS form 6014. That form has been discontinued, however, and the USPS has advised printers to develop their own; you can download the appropriate form for Dartmouth Printing Company or United Litho, Inc., here. Unlike the USPS form, which expired after 12 months, a single form will cover the duration of your relationship with us unless your needs or requirements change.
While penalties for noncompliance were delayed from the original implementation date of May 11, 2009, enforcement began in earnest earlier this year. As of January 4, Standard mailers claiming automation rates without having validated their lists are subject to a Move Update assessment charge if more than 30 percent of addresses with a change of address (COA) are not updated, based on the error rate found in USPS sampling at acceptance during Performance-Based Verification.
As an example, if you mail 50,000 copies of the March issue of your magazine and 40 percent of the COAs in the sample are not updated, the 7-cent per copy charge is applied to 10 percent of your total mailing, resulting in a fine of $350. Factor in the costs of printing magazines that some of your readers will never see, and the failure to update your records gets even more expensive.
And the math really breaks down if you're contemplating using retail First-Class rates to avoid dealing with Move Update: Depending on the sortation level, a 6.5-ounce magazine — 64 pages plus cover — would cost $0.50 to $0.61 per copy to mail Standard, versus $1.90 to mail First Class.
Clearly, the only thing that makes real sense is to validate your mailing lists, and keep them updated. That’s where NCOA processing comes in.
A popular method of meeting the Move Update requirement, National Change of Address processing improves mailpiece deliverability by comparing the addresses in your mailing list to the NCOA database to identify those who may have moved and correct the mailing data accordingly.
What is the National Change of Address database?
When individuals, families or companies move, they typically file a Change of Address (COA) with the USPS so their mail can be forwarded to them at their new address. This information is compiled into a database that is maintained by the USPS.
I have Coding Accuracy Support System (CASS)-certified address-matching software that ensures I have good addresses. Does this meet the standards for new names and addresses?
No. Address-matching software looks up addresses to standardize, correct and validate the physical address elements and append ZIP+4 Codes. But because it doesn't do a name look-up to determine whether the addressee is still at that address, it doesn't meet the Move Update standard. It's important to note, however, that if a record can't pass CASS and Delivery Point Verification (DPV) because it's deficient in some way, it won't be matched to the NCOA database and can't be counted as “updated." Until it's corrected, you should not include it in your mailings.
When my list is processed through NCOA, will my database be automatically updated?
If your printer processes your mail list for you via an NCOA-approved vendor, it will overlay the new and updated records for labeling purposes, and will supply you with the new data so you can fix your mailing list permanently. An independent NCOA vendor will supply you with the new data so you can update your records before submitting mailing data to your printer.
Will NCOA processing update my business contact information?
No. Here’s how business matching works: If an entire business moves, then the business files a COA. When NCOA processing is performed on your file and a business is found, only the business name and address are matched to the COA record. That match does not include the contact name of an individual, since individuals are not permitted to file COAs if they change employers. An individual who has moved from one company to another would have to contact you directly.
Do I have to use the new address provided by NCOA?
No. You can mail to any address you choose. However, your choice may require you to pay more postage. The USPS has many tools in place to assess whether or not you are updating your file. If it determines that you've submitted a mailing at discounted rates without updating your file, you may be required to pay additional postage for your entire mailing.
Is there a way I can bypass the NCOA process?
Yes. You can use an alternative address format such as “John Wayne or Current Resident." The “or Current Resident” notation means that if John Wayne has moved, you want the Post Office to go ahead and deliver to that address anyway. In other words, the piece is deliverable no matter who lives there.
How often do I need to process my mail list through NCOA?
Within 95 days of your mailing date. If you mail monthly and run your list through NCOA on March 1, you can probably mail four issues — say, on March 3, April 3, May 3 and June 3 (the 95th day) — before you have to complete the NCOA process again. If, on the other hand, you mail twice yearly, you'll need to complete the NCOA processing within 95 days of each mailing.
Will NCOA process my foreign records?
No. In fact, foreign records must not be submitted for NCOA processing.
Return to the February 2010 issue of the SMS Register.
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