Well its official!  The USPS has put notice in the Federal Register to start the process of requiring Both Standard and Presorted First Class Mailers to improve their address quality.   Reminds me of my parents telling me to eat my vegetables, you were told they were good for you, but you were sure they tasted bad.

The proposal includes the following changes related to move update processing: 

(1) extending the Move Update requirement to all Standard Mail and (2) reducing the window for move update processing of names and addresses used for mailings of discounted First-Class Mail from 185 days to 95 days prior to mailing. The revised timeframe would apply to all pieces in Standard Mail mailings.

When it comes to Address Quality there are two elements: The Physical and the Personal.  In the last newsletter we detailed how mandated improvements to the CASS requirement would improve the Physical Element of the address with the addition of DPV and LACSlink.   This is the Delivery Address information – the unmovable physical location.  The Standardization of how the address is output is a fundamental first step to improving address quality.  Once this is done duplicates can be removed and the ability to catch Move Updates is greatly improved.

The Personal element relates to the Individual, Family or Business itself.  Unlike the Physical location, People and Businesses move, 44 Million last year alone.  This means your database is going out of date at 1.2% per month or 14% per year.   Over 6 billion pieces of mail are disposed of every year.   It is estimated that poor address quality costs the Post Office 2 billion dollars every year.

Improving your address quality will help to protect one of your company’s greatest assets (your database) and continue to save money in reduced postage, handling, storage and printing of materials that are mailed.

The following are authorized methods to meet the proposed Move Update standards:

• NCOALink™ processing.

• FASTforward™ MLOCR processing (letter mail only).

• Address Change Service (ACS), including the new OneCodeACS™.

• Ancillary service endorsements under DMM 507.1.5, except 
  “Forwarding Service Requested.”

NCOA link is easy, it is just the next step after CASS when you are processing your list thru mail automation software. It can be done live over the internet in just a few minutes catching moves made up to 48 months at only pennies per record searched.

Fastforward is a service that the large presort houses offer. 

ACS is a method to get changes after the fact emailed to you.  It requires signing up and getting approved by the USPS.  It used to require a separate keyline of information in the address block but can now be incorporated into the new “Intelligent Barcode” aka OneCodes ACS.  The price of this has come way down with this last rate change giving serious mailers incentive to use.

Ancillary Service Endorsements – Be Careful!  Choose the wrong one on a dirty list and you will be on the hook for potential thousands of dollars.

So there you have it.  CASS, DPV and Move Update.  Address Quality for both the Physical and Personal elements.  Even though these proposed changes will not go into effect for 18 months, it is a good idea to start implementing them anyway, as your parents use to say “its for your own good”. 

 

- Gordon Glazer CMDSM, CMDSS, MQC is a nationally recognized speaker and industry expert and is President and Owner of San Diego Postal & Shipping Equipment the oldest and largest independent dealer of mailing equipment servicing San Diego County mail centers reliably since 1986