Move Update is the term used by the United State Postal Service (USPS) in regard
to updating all mail delivery addresses with National Change of Address (NCOA)
information. The post office now requires that some form of Move Update process be
performed on all mailing lists being used in any kind of presorted or discounted postage
mailings, i.e. bulk mail. In a nutshell, if you want to do any kind of bulk mailing, you
have to make sure that the people on your mailing list that you are mailing to, still reside
at the delivery addresses you are mailing to.
The reason the Post Office has made this a requirement is because they are trying to
reduce the amount of Undeliverable As Addressed (UAA) mail. In 2006 alone, over 9.7
billion pieces of mail were sent out with addresses that could not be delivered. This cost
the USPS almost $1.9 billion to process, forward, return, or destroy.
There are several factors that lead to a mail piece being undeliverable. One of the most
common reasons is that the mail piece recipient has moved. Whenever someone fills out
a change of address card, or goes to the USPS Change Of Address web page, a record
is generated in the post offices NCOA master database. By comparing the addresses in
your mailing list against this NCOA master database, we can find the new addresses of
those who have moved, and thereby update your mailing list with the new information.
Electronically updating your mailing list before you mail is the easiest way to conform
to this mandatory USPS requirement. Mailers failing to comply with the Move Update
rules stand to lose their automation discounts. This would apply to all the pieces in a
given mailing, not just those pieces that couldn’t be delivered. Obviously, any violation
would also invite increased scrutiny of future mailings by the U.S. Postal Service.
Here at Better Letter Mailing Services we have the means to electronically Move Update
your mailing lists prior to each mailing in order to make sure it complies with the USPS
Move Update regulations.
Move Updating your mailing list prior to each mailing is also an excellent cost saving
measure. By cleaning up your mailing list before each mailing, removing undeliverable
addresses, removing duplicates, and removing bad addresses, you will ultimately have to
send out fewer pieces of mail. Why keep paying over and over again to send out mail
that is undeliverable? Not only will Move Updating your database save you money on
the overall cost of each mailing, but it will also allow your mail to be delivered directly
to your target audience more quickly and accurately. This can dramatically improve your
response rates.
If you have any additional questions about Move Update, do not hesitate to contact us.
We’d be more then happy to discuss it with you in greater detail.