postalref

Move Update

Move Update is the USPS standard that cuts the mail needing forwarding or return by matching a mailer's address records with USPS change-of-address orders. To get commercial First-Class Mail or USPS Marketing Mail prices, a mailer must show its addresses were updated within 95 days before the mailing date.

Updated October 31, 202636 sources

What it is

Move Update is one of the eligibility requirements for the automation and presort prices of First-Class Mail and USPS Marketing Mail letters and flats. A mailer meets it by updating its addresses with a method USPS approves. First-Class Mail sent at single-piece postage does not have to meet it.

On July 1, 2016, the standard also covered presorted First-Class Package Service and Parcel Select Lightweight.

Nearly 40 million people, about 12 percent of the U.S. population, change their addresses each year. Move Update aims to cut the waste and cost of mail sent to old addresses, for mailers and USPS alike.

How it works

An address meets the standard once an approved method updates it and the mailer uses it in a commercial mailing within 95 days. The update can come from a mailing of any class of mail.

USPS lays out these checks for each address in a commercial First-Class Mail or USPS Marketing Mail mailing, leaving out the alternative methods.

  1. An address in an alternative format is not subject to the standard, because USPS does not forward such mail.
  2. An address the addressee gave or confirmed within the last 95 days meets the standard.
  3. Every other address needs an approved method to update it within 95 days before the postage statement is finalized.
  4. An address that matches no change-of-address order meets the standard for the rest of the 95 days.
  5. A matched address whose move effective date is 95 days old or less can stay until 95 days after that date.
  6. A matched address with an older move effective date meets the standard only if the piece carries the new address.
  7. An address that fails can still go at First-Class Mail single-piece postage, which the standard does not cover.

The methods

USPS offers five ways to meet the standard. Using one of them well is enough. A pre-mailing method updates the list before the mail goes out. A post-mailing method reports a move after the mail goes out.

NCOALink, an address correction service provided through companies USPS licenses, is the pre-mailing method. It checks a mailer's list against the USPS change-of-address database and corrects a matched address before it is printed. NCOALink meets the standard the first time it updates an address. NCOALink MPE, the same matching on mail processing equipment, applies new addresses to pieces already printed.

ACS, the USPS service that sends mailers change-of-address information electronically, is a post-mailing method. A mailer that mails to an address at least every 95 days with ACS, and updates it before the next mailing, meets the standard. A piece sent with ACS does not qualify itself, but it qualifies later pieces to that address within the next 95 days.

An ancillary service endorsement is a printed instruction on the piece that tells USPS what to do with it if it is undeliverable as addressed. Any mailer may use one of four endorsements that count for Move Update. Forwarding Service Requested is not one of them. It does not request address corrections.

Two alternative methods, 99 Percent Accurate and Legal Restraint, apply to First-Class Mail only. The National Customer Support Center, the USPS office that administers them, must approve a mailer's use of either. A mailer gets 99 Percent Accurate when less than 1% of its file matches a change-of-address order. Legal Restraint is for a mailer that a law bars from updating an address without direct contact from the customer.

99% Testing

The 99% Accurate test is a computer-based process that runs USPS ZIP + 4 coding and change-of-address processing on a mailer's own address file. It finds whether 1% or less of the list's addresses has a change-of-address on file, and which addresses do not ZIP + 4 code. A mailer that wants the 99 Percent Accurate method must apply for approval. Verification takes about 7 to 10 business days.

A mailer orders one test for each list, by the list's name.

  1. Fill out the order form before each test, one form for each list by name.
  2. Return the form with a copy of the list's most recent PS Form 3553.
  3. Send a test file in the required format for a preliminary file review.
  4. Submit every address that results in an actual mailpiece.
  5. Leave out foreign addresses, which count as addresses that do not ZIP + 4 code.
  6. Pay the fee per 1,000 addresses when the file is processed.

Price Notice 123 gives the fee. Each file has a minimum fee. A mailer that pays by ACH must contact Account Receivable at 800-331-5746.

At least 98.5% of the file must ZIP + 4 code. Coded addresses go through change-of-address matching in Standard mode, which applies individual, family and business moves. The move rate found there is also applied to the uncoded and default ZIP + 4 records. A file whose combined move rate exceeds 1% fails.

USPS returns the results whether the list passes or fails. They come in spreadsheet format, with each input record and its output record. The summary report shows the total record count, the ZIP + 4 coded records, the records matched, and the percentage of each. The file of change-of-address matches comes only with a score of 99% or greater.

The three files USPS returns.

99% Results Summary Report
this text document provides the ZIP + 4 Coding Statistics, ZIP + 4 Footnotes Profile, and NCOA Matching Statistics with a detailed count and percentage of those records that passed or failed the tests performed.
99% Results Records Not ZIP + 4 Coded
This file includes the input records that could not be coded with a DPV 11-Digit ZIP Code.
99% Results NCOA Matches
This file includes the input records that matched to a change-of-address record in NCOALink.

A list that passes may be mailed at commercial prices for the next year. The approval covers only the tested list. A list whose content changes by more than 1% falls out of compliance, and the mailer must tell the National Customer Support Center in writing. A mailer that fails may reapply after three months. After three years in compliance, the authorization runs four years at a time.

Applications/Forms

The Legal Restraint process

A Legal Restraint mailer still gets change-of-address information, but confirms each move with the customer before using it.

  1. Get USPS change-of-address information from a preapproved method within 95 days before the mailing.
  2. Contact each addressee who has a change-of-address within 30 days of getting that information.
  3. Ask the addressee to confirm the move in a form that meets the mailer's legal requirements.
  4. Add each confirmation to the mailer's system within 30 days of receiving it.
  5. Keep records of these steps for one year and give them to USPS on request.

After a customer confirms an address, the mailer may use it for 95 days from the date of confirmation.

Addresses the standard does not cover

Two kinds of addresses are not subject to the standard. The first is an alternative address format, because USPS does not forward pieces that use one. The second is an address the mailer got directly from the addressee within 95 days before the mailing.

Addresses USPS classes as moved with no forwarding address, a closed P.O. Box with no forwarding order, or a move abroad are exempt too. USPS recommends that mailers leave these pieces out, since they are undeliverable as addressed.

Rules

Mailers must use one of the preapproved or alternative methods to meet the Move Update standard.

A mailer must update its addresses with a preapproved method or an approved alternative method to meet the standard.

A mailer wishing to enter mail at commercial First-Class Mail or USPS Marketing Mail prices, must identify on the postage statement the Move Update method that was used for the mailing.

A mailer claiming commercial First-Class Mail or USPS Marketing Mail prices must name the Move Update method it used on the postage statement.

To satisfy the Move Update standard, all new addresses returned by the ACS method must be used to update the addresses used on future mailings.

Every new address ACS returns must replace the old one in the mailer's later mailings.

Takes effect July 1, 2016

For an address to meet the Move Update requirement using ACS, the mailer must send at least one letter or card to the address with an ACS request within 95 days before reuse of the address in a mailing at USPS Marketing Mail or discounted First-Class Mail prices.

To rely on ACS, the mailer must send the address at least one letter or card requesting ACS. That piece must go within 95 days before the address is reused at discounted prices.

For an address to meet the Move Update requirement using ancillary service endorsements, the mailer must first send at least one letter or card to the address with an approved Ancillary Service Endorsement within 95 days before reuse of the address in a First-Class Mail mailing.

To rely on an endorsement, the mailer must first send the address at least one letter or card with an approved endorsement. That piece must go within 95 days before the address is reused in a First-Class Mail mailing.

For the purposes of qualifying for commercial prices and meeting the Move Update standard, mailers should use Standard Name Matching Logic; not doing so will also cause a mailer to run the risk of failing the Move Update verification performed on the mail.

Mailers should use Standard Name Matching Logic to qualify for commercial prices. Another matching mode risks failing the Move Update verification USPS performs on the mail.

To obtain authorization, the mailer must show that a particular law prohibits the mailer from using a primary method to meet the Move Update standard.

A mailer seeking the Legal Restraint method must show that a specific law bars it from using a primary method.

Mailers who are authorized for the Legal Restraint method must use an exclusive Mailer Identification (MID) or multiple exclusive MIDs for Legal Restraint mailings.

A Legal Restraint mailer must send those mailings under one or more Mailer IDs reserved for them.

Takes effect July 1, 2016

What goes wrong

USPS checks Move Update compliance automatically, through the Address Quality Census Measurement and Assessment Process. As pieces with an Intelligent Mail barcode are processed, USPS compares their names and addresses with its change-of-address database.

A Move Update error is logged when a piece's address was not updated for a change-of-address order 95 days to 18 months old. The order's age runs from the later of its move effective date and create date to the postage statement finalization date.

USPS measures errors over a calendar month, and pieces beyond a 0.5% tolerance are assessed $.08 each. The results appear on the Mailer Scorecard, an online reporting tool.

Green & Secure, an ACS option, lets USPS dispose of undeliverable pieces, with or without secure destruction. Pieces with a Change Service Requested Service Type ID in the barcode take part. Their errors are reported separately and left out of the Move Update error percentage.

Keeping the original address when ACS returns a new one fails the standard, and the piece loses the discounted prices. This holds even when the new address is not Delivery Point Validated.

A first mailing with ACS does not meet the standard unless its addresses already qualified another way. An address the mailer failed to update does not become compliant when its change-of-address order passes 18 months old.

When NCOALink finds a move but gives no new address, it returns a code such as 5. Mailing to the original address then still meets the standard.

Terms

NCOALink fileNCOALink, National Change of Address Link, National Change-of-Address Linkage System, NCOALink Product, NCOALink System
an address correction service provided to mailers through companies licensed by the Postal Service
Address Change ServiceACS, Address Correction Service
a post-mailing service that provides USPS with instructions on how to handle Undeliverable as Addressed (UAA) mail and provides you with electronic Change of Address (COA) information or the reason for non-delivery
Ancillary Service EndorsementASE
a post-mailing, on-piece printed endorsement used to instruct the Postal Service regarding the appropriate disposition, upon determining that it is Undeliverable-asAddressed (UAA): Address Service Requested, Change Service Requested, Return Service Requested.
Pre-mailing
when you perform Move Update processing on your address list or the mailpiece before it is mailed
Post-mailing
when you mail to the addresses that you have on file and, after the mailing, the Postal Service notifies you about the new addresses of any customers who have moved
Directly acquired
an address received directly from a customer for mailing purposes
Move Effective DateMED
an addressee’s move date
Standard Name Matching Logic
matching all three COA move types: Individual, Family, and Business
Address Quality Census Measurement and Assessment ProcessAQCMAP, Census method of Move Update testing, Move/Update verification
The USPS validates Move Update address quality through an automated process
Move Update error
logged when the address on the mailpiece has not been updated due to a COA record where the more current of the COA Move Effective and COA Create date is between 95 days and 18 months prior to the postage statement finalization date.
Mailer ScorecardMailer scorecard report, Full-Service Mailer Scorecard
a mail quality tool, the Mailer Scorecard, which displays a dashboard view of the results of the letter and flat mailing activity within each of these initiatives over a calendar month.
Green & SecureGreen & Secure option
allows USPS to dispose of undeliverable mailpieces in one of two ways, either with or without secure destruction.

Documents

User Guides

Publications

Quick Service Guides

Fact Sheets

Contacts

  • Move Update questions go to (800) 238-3150 or MoveUpdate.ncsc@usps.gov.
  • The Move Update department also takes email at ncsc.moveupdate@usps.gov.
  • The National Customer Support Center's Move Update department says whether a mailer qualifies for an alternative method, at 800-238-3150.
  • Legal Restraint requests go by letter to the National Customer Support Center at 225 N Humphreys Blvd Ste 501, Memphis TN 38188-1001.
  • The National Customer Support Center's NCOALink department handles licenses, at ncoalink@usps.gov or 800-589-5766.
  • The National Customer Support Center handles ACS enrollment, at 877-640-0724, option 1, or acs@usps.gov.
  • Questions about the 99% Accurate test go to (800)-589-5766 or Moveupdate.ncsc@usps.gov.

Sources