Move Update refers to the process of applying changes of address to existing addresses. The USPS has established a new set of Move Update standards that take effect on Nov. 23, 2008, and that will have a significant impact on mailers who primarily use Standard Mail. These new standards are another step in the Postal Service's long-term plan to reduce the volume and costs of undeliverable-as-addressed (UAA) mail.

The two most significant changes are:

• Move Update standards are now extended to include all Standard Mail (letters, flats, parcels and Not Flat-Machinables), as well as automation-rate and presort-rate First-Class Mail.
• Addresses being used for a mailing in one of the above categories must go through an approved Move Update process no more than 95 calendar days prior to the date of mailing. This is a reduction from the previous standard of 185 days for automation-rate and presort-rate First-Class Mail.

The main reason the standards are being extended to Standard Mail is that during an independent study, the Postal Service found that mail entered as Standard Mail accounted for 62.8 percent of all UAA mail volume.

Exempt from the Move Update standards are mailpieces with an alternative addressing format described in section 602.3.0 of the Domestic Mail Manual such as “John Doe or Current Resident,” “ Occupant,” or “Postal Customer.” However, alternative address formats are not allowed on mailpieces with any ancillary service endorsement, or with an extra service such as Delivery Confirmation, or on mail addressed to an overseas military post office.

Authorized Methods of Complying with Move Update Standards

Authorized Move Update methods that comply with the new standards include:

• NCOALink processing.
• Address Change Service (ACS) used with an ACS participant code and an appropriate on-piece ancillary service endorsement.
• Use of an appropriate on-piece ancillary service endorsement without ACS.
• OneCode ACS in conjunction with an Intelligent Mail barcode and a mailer ID.
• FASTforward MLOCR processing (letter mail only).

We strongly recommend that mailers who currently use an ancillary service endorsement confirm with their mailshop or the USPS business mail entry unit where their mail is entered, that their ancillary service endorsement meets the new Move Update standards. In addition, mailers who rely on ACS or on-piece ancillary service endorsements without ACS, must apply address changes received from one mailing to the affected addresses prior to using them in a subsequent mailing.

Preparing for the New Standards

• This spring MCH will plan our implementation of Move Update processing for our database of institutions. Details will be announced in the late summer/early fall timeframe. Rest assured that MCH's database of institutional addresses will be compliant with the new standards.
• Our Response Lab can provide NCOALink processing today. If you are not currently using a Move Update method, we recommend that you begin doing so now. If your address file has never been through NCOALink or another Move Update process, the percentage of changed addresses due to moves might be in double digits. If you're currently using Standard Mail without an ancillary service endorsement, mailpieces sent to those addresses are being discarded by the Postal Service.