The USPS spends billions of dollars to process undeliverable mail. As part of their quest to keep operating costs down, they require you to be “compliant” with their Move Update Requirements.
The benefit of being “compliant” with the USPS rules allows you to receive the lowest postage cost, the fastest delivery time on your mail and a cleaned-up address list. You can be “compliant” when you work with a mailing partner who is enrolled in the USPS Move Update program and follows the USPS requirements. The mailing partner will consult with you on the options available and together help you make a choice that is best for your organization. If all this sounds like a lot of work, don’t worry it’s not a lot of work for you because your mailing partner will take care of it on your behalf. And once the work is done, you have the benefit of a cleaned up and current address list.
Move Update Participation
To remain in good standing with the program, mailing partners are required to present clean mailing lists to the USPS for mailing. This means that characters and data in the mailing list need to be uniform and addresses need to be correct to reduce the amount of undeliverable mail. . This is a key part of any professional mailer’s process for verifying and maintaining the accuracy of their mailing list to comply with Move Update standards. And there is an incentive – mailing partners who fail to present clean data to the USPS can be subject to increased postage costs and fines. Metro Presort works to ensure the mail we move through the facility is managed within the USPS guidelines and offer in house expertise, software and tools to provide the maximum savings while maintaining list vetting and quality with every mailing.
Address Quality & Forwarding
Below are a few USPS tools Metro Presort uses to stay in compliance with Move Updates requirements and provide USPS discounts to our customers:
- NCOA (National Change of Address):
- NCOA is an address correction service provided to mailers through companies licensed by the Postal Service. Updated change-of-address information from customers that have submitted a request to forward mail is provided on a regular basis to the licensees by the Postal Service. The licensees match names and addresses from mailing lists submitted to them by mailers against the computerized and encrypted change-of-address information. If a match is made, NCOA can correct the address before it is printed.
- ASR (Address Service Requested):
- The mailpiece is forwarded to the new address when possible and a separate notice with the new address is sent to the mailer and the manual address correction fee is charged. This notice is then used by the mailer to update the address list. If mail cannot be forwarded, it is returned with the reason it cannot be delivered. First-Class Mail is returned at no additional charge, all other mail classes will be charged postage and/or fees for the return of the piece.
- RSR (Return Service Requested):
- The mailpiece is returned with the new address information or reason for non-delivery affixed. No forwarding service is provided. The return of First-Class Mail is provided at no charge. USPS Marketing Mail and Parcel Select Lightweight is returned at either the single-piece First- Class Mail or Priority Mail price, depending on the weight of the piece. The mailer then updates the address information in the file and may choose to mail a new piece to the new address.
- Fast Forward:
- Fast Forward is an exclusive USPS program Metro Presort uses with it’s Optical Character Reading (OCR) machines. These machines sort the mail and when Fast Forward is used, the machine will read the address, look it up and if the address is incorrect the machine will spray the correct barcode on the envelope. Then we will send a report back to the customer so that they can update the address in their main system.
If you don’t want to participate in the Move Update program, there is simple way around it. You can include the slogan “Or Current Resident” under the person’s name in the address block. It would look like this:
John Smith
Or Current Resident
123 Main Street
Anytown, USA 97210
If you have participated in the Move Update program, it’s important to note that you still might receive returns after the address scrubbing. When you do receive returns, we like to see them as we can help triage the return reasons an enhance your address list for future mailings. Here are some common reasons returns can happen:
- Change of Address filed after NCOA processing – NCOA only contains moves filed before the last USPS weekly update. Any COAs submitted afterward will result in a return. A COA is also known as a Change of Address.
- No Change of Address filed – NCOA can only update addresses if USPS has a COA on file.
- Valid CASS address but undeliverable – Sometimes an address is technically valid but can’t be delivered due to missing or incorrect unit numbers, new construction, or other delivery issues.
- Forwarding window expired – USPS only forwards First-Class mail for 12 months for permanent moves and 6 months for temporary moves. If someone moved before that period and didn’t file again, the mail will be returned.
The team at Metro Presort are here to consult, help design, produce and deliver your mail keeping in mind your audience, budget and timing while adhering to postal requirements.