GETTING READY FOR THE NEW MOVE UPDATE STANDARDS
Effective November 23, 2008 the Postal Service is increasing its effort to improve the percentage of deliverable mail by revising the Move Update standards. The Move Update standards provide ways for mailers to reduce the number of mail pieces that require forwarding or return by the periodic matching of a mailer's address records with customer-filed change-of-address orders. The final rule includes the following changes related to change-of-address processing:
- Increase the minimum frequency of change-of-address processing from 185 calendar days to 95 days prior to the date of mailing.
- Extend the revised Move Update standards to include all Standard Mail (letters, flats, parcels and Not Flat-Machinables), as well as automation-rate and presort-rate First-Class Mail.
The USPS has put a goal in place to reduce Undeliverable as Addressed mail 50% by 2010. To meet that goal, the USPS requires that the sender verify that the NAME/INDIVIDUAL to whom the mail is addressed, actually resides at that address. This has been a requirement on bulk first-class mailings for several years, but is now being extended to include all bulk mailings (nonprofit, standard, periodicals, etc.).
Here are some suggestions to help your department avoid these potential penalties and maintain compliance:
- For internal address databases--maintain documentation that you have changed the address database.
- For externally purchased address databases--require the seller to certify that they are "Move Update" compliant.
- For all address databases--consider sending the address database to Mail Processing for NCOA processing (checking your database for moves in the last 48 months). AMS Can provide this service for a fee. See attachment document.
If your department uses an ancillary endorsement (Address Service Requested, Return Service Requested or Change Service Requested) AND your department updates its database with information, you are in compliance. However, you must be able to prove that the database was updated. The USPS has assigned field auditors to businesses to verify that they are maintaining compliance with the "Move Update Compliance Process."
Standard Mail bearing a simplified or alternative address format (i.e., "Joe Spartan or Current Resident", "Postal Customer", etc.) will not be subject to the Move Update requirement.
Addresses updated as part of a First-Class mailing can be used again for a Standard mailing (and vice-versa) without being updated again as long as the second mailing is within 95 days of the first Move Update process.
The USPS now requires mailing lists to undergo Move Update processing every 3 months in order to receive postage discounts.
More than 44 million Americans change their addresses each year.
To make sure your mail reaches them its good business to update your address lists now.
More importantly, the USPS is taking undeliverable-as-addressed mail very seriously. When an address is undeliverable, for whatever reason, the entire mail piece is lost; therefore departments must consider not only the obvious cost of lost opportunity but also the entire cost of producing and mailing the piece.
Address updating improves mailings in all categories by helping mail pieces hit their intended targets.
The Move Update standard is a means of reducing the number of mail pieces in your mailing that require forwarding or return from addresses in your file with household/resident-filed "change-of-address" orders received and maintained by the Postal Service. This process is called National Change of Address or NCOA.
Our contracted Mailing Service Bureau, Automated Mailing Service (AMS) is ready to assist you in this endeavor. As the “list owner” the department will need to simply fill out the attached USPS form 6014 Certification of Move Update Compliance Form available on the Delivery Services webpage at: http://www.unlv.edu/depts/delivery/Move_Update_ps6014.pdf. Then submit the form and the mailing list at least 14 days prior to the planned mail date to Automated Mailing Service (AMS). AMS pricing can be found on the Delivery Services webpage at: http://www.unlv.edu/depts/delivery/NCOA_UNLV_Pricing.pdf. Your updated mailing list will be returned to you already updated or as separate files containing move and nixie records for manual or automated updating at your department.
In addition to filling out the USPS 6014 form available on the Delivery Services webpage at: http://www.unlv.edu/depts/delivery/Move_Update_ps6014.pdf you will need to fill out the UNLV Mail Center Approval form as usual with the exception that you will enter NEVER in the Date Last Updated box. On your next mailing you would enter the date the list was last updated.