You’ve pre-processed your list through NCOA^Link, updated your addresses with the data you got back from ACS, and still get return mail? This may be due to the almost 20% of moves that aren’t reported to USPS each year. These “lost” moves can prevent your message from getting to the right target.

Why USPS NCOA^Link processing isn’t enough

Each year, 17% of the United States moves to a new address. Many of these individuals, families and businesses file their move with USPS, allowing their mail to be forwarded. This information is accessible for mailers through NCOA^Link processing, or through ACS. However, not all people file their move with the Post Office. Whether by forgetfulness or other reasons, around 20% of moves aren’t reported. Additionally, USPS databases have an expiration date. ACS and other forwarding services only return the last 18 months of moves, while NCOA^Link can return up to the last 48 months (when using a Full Service NCOA^Link vendor like Satori Software). If you are working with a list that hasn’t been updated in the last four years, some of the move data will be past its expiration. With these limitations, you may not be getting all the data you need to keep your list updated.

How to get those missing moves

Many contacts will update their addresses with their bank, magazine subscription or other entities they do business with. Some vendors keep this information in a database to keep their own lists updated. Because the data isn’t licensed by the USPS, access and use is less restrictive. No PAF forms are required, moves don’t “expire” after 18 or 48 months, and the complicated matching algorithms used by NCOA^Link are not required. This results in a more flexible, and longer lasting, database. Some vendors allow mailers to update their addresses using this service, commonly known as Enhanced Change of Address, or ECOA.

Getting the most out of ECOA

Because ECOA is not a USPS service, it does not meet the Move Update requirement for First Class and Standard Mail. You will still need to process through NCOA^Link or another approved method to satisfy the USPS requirement. It’s a good idea to use NCOA^Link in tandem with ECOA as ECOA is an entirely separate database. While some moves will exist in both systems, running your list with each service will result in the most moves found, resulting in a cleaner, more current address list. In our tests, ECOA found up to an additional 20% of moves on certain lists. Depending on the content of your list, your results may vary.

Want to learn more?

Curious whether your list is really up to date? Contact us at 800-553-6477 option 1, and get a free list assessment. We’ll analyze your list and let you know how many moves you may be missing.

address quality · data enhancement · data services · ECOA · move update · NCOALink

In 2008 USPS announced that First-Class and Standard Mail mailings must be processed using an approved Move Update method. Two of the most popular ways of satisfying the Move Update requirement are Address Change Service (ACS) and NCOA^Link® . These two processes have quite a few differences, and the benefits of each can be a little confusing. In this post, we’ll cover how each of these processes work and when to use each one.

What is NCOA^Link?

NCOA^Link is a pre-mailing process you can run on your address list. It satisfies the Move Update requirement for First-Class and Standard mail discounts. To use NCOA^Link, you send your list to an NCOA^Link licensee like Satori Software, who then matches the contacts and addresses against the USPS database of moves. This database contains moves submitted by postal customers via mail or online at www.usps.com. Updated addresses, including information about why some moves weren’t returned, are sent back to you.

This data is available at two different levels: Limited Service and Full Service. Limited Service providers maintain a database of the last 18 months of moves, and Full Service providers maintain 48 months of moves. Satori Software is a Full Service NCOA^Link provider.

NCOA^Link is the easiest pre-mailing Move Update process recognized by USPS. It’s the only process that returns data from more than 18 months ago, assuming you go through a Full Service provider. It does not return data for temporary moves or NIXIE (non-move related, undeliverable mail) information. NCOA^Link is ideal to avoid the lengthy USPS forwarding process and also updates your source data automatically.

What is ACS?

ACS is a post-mailing process you can use to update your addresses. It satisfies the Move Update requirement for First-Class and Standard mail discounts, as long as you have updated your address list with previous ACS results or another Move Update process within 95 days of your mailing date. There are many ways to use ACS, but the easiest is to include the Intelligent Mail barcode with the ACS setting on your mail piece. After you have sent your mail, USPS will return the move data to you, mainly in the form of update files that include the old and new address. You must update your mailing list with these moves in order to remain Move Update compliant. Sometimes you will get your physical mail piece back with a yellow sticker including the ACS data even if you chose to get electronic notifications. This introduces a manual process that can take quite a bit of time and yet is still required to maintain Move Update compliance.

ACS is the most common post-mailing Move Update process. Returned information includes temporary moves and NIXIE information. Data is usually limited to the last 18 months, and isn’t as consistent as NCOA^Link data. ACS is ideal for lists that you use repeatedly and when you want to get more than permanent move data.

Which should you use?

While both NCOA^Link and ACS make your list Move Update compliant, selecting one can be difficult. The data used and returned for each is different, and in the case of ACS the data is only available after the mailing and through different channels. NCOA^Link is by far the easiest to use and update, and does not require additional steps once your mailing is out the door. We recommend using NCOA^Link for all your mailings to reduce the number of returns and keep your list Move Update compliant. If you need NIXIE or temporary move information, use ACS in addition to NCOA^Link processing. By using NCOA^Link first, you will limit the number of ACS returns, which can cost up to $0.50 per piece. Reducing your ACS returns will also limit the number of manual steps needed to keep your address list up to date.

ACS · address correction · address quality · data quality · move update · NCOALink

This post continues our series in getting the most from your address list. To learn about address correction results, read Understanding Address Correction Results and Using Address Correction Results to Reduce Return Mail.

In addition to the results from Address Correction, NCOA^Link® processing includes more return codes and data, which you can usually find in the field NCOA^Link Footnote. You may want to put additional address handling rules in place to take advantage of these results.

About NCOA^Link processing

All NCOA^Link processes go through similar steps:

1. The list is run through an approved CASS Certified™ software engine to cleanse and standardize the addresses.
2. Validated addresses are then sent through NCOA^Link processing. Depending on the vendor you use, the addresses are compared against a data set of moves covering the last 18 or 48 months (Satori Software is a 48-month provider). This data set is a collection of the moves submitted to USPS by individuals, families and businesses.
3. For addresses that have a confirmed move, the new address is returned. In some cases, your contact may have moved more than once. When multiple moves are on file, they are “chained” and the most current address is returned to you. NCOA^Link processing rules may prevent you from getting the new address for some moves. The next section shows you how to identify these addresses.

Matched and unmatched addresses

These straightforward results are easy to handle — if a move is found, update your record with the updated address. The majority of your list will not return moves. We recommend updating these records anyway, as the address may have been modified to be more USPS compliant during the Address Correction phase. Matched and unmatched addresses return a code of A, 0, 91 or 92 in Satori Software products.

New address unavailable

Some new addresses are unavailable through NCOA^Link processing. Here are some common reasons why the address couldn’t be updated:

• Contact moved to a foreign address. NCOA^Link does not return foreign addresses.
• Contact moved or closed their PO Box without a forwarding address. In this case, USPS knows that the contact no longer receives mail at this address, but they’re not sure where to forward it.
• Contact moved to an address that isn’t in the USPS CASS database. This is common for people moving to newly constructed housing.
• A similar move entry was found, but isn’t an exact match. NCOA^Link processing uses a complex set of rules that includes identifying people by their gender, full or abbreviated middle name, nicknames and other features. If a conflict in the name is found, the new address is not returned.

When the new address is unavailable, there are several ways to handle the address. Here are some suggestions:

• When the contact has definitely moved, but the new address isn’t available (usually foreign moves or no forwarding information found), contact your customer by phone or email to request an updated address, or just remove the record from your list entirely. Mail sent to the address is not likely to reach your intended contact.
• When the new address isn’t in the CASS database yet, go ahead and send mail that is not time-sensitive. Mail is likely get forwarded to your intended recipient, but may take awhile. Be sure to include this address the next time you process the list through NCOA^Link, as the new address will generally be available within a month or two.
• When a match isn’t found due to a name mismatch, check the name that you have on file. Are you using a nickname or middle name for your contact? Using the formal name (e.g., William rather than Bill) and no middle name will return more moves. Be aware when making these changes, as it is common to have more than one occupant at an address with the same name. In these cases, try to include generational indicators like Senior/Sr and Junior/Jr when submitting your list to NCOA^Link.

Like all address cleansing procedures, NCOA^Link will not eliminate all return mail. Not all movers submit their move status to USPS, and the NCOA^Link data set doesn’t include information about temporary moves or other NIXIE data. To get more complete data, consider using additional processes such as Onecode ACS or non-USPS move databases like our ECOA service to get a more complete picture of the moves in your list.

address correction · move update · NCOALink · USPS