SAN FRANCISCO — The U.S. Postal Service today recognized Charles Schwab & Co. with its Strategic Business Development Award for the company's commitment to a successful business partnership with the Postal Service. A select group of Postal customers is acknowledged and recognized for their contributions to the continued success of the mailing industry at the annual National Postal Forum.
The Strategic Business Development Award, one of three "best in class" awards presented annually at the Forum, recognizes customers who have, as technology advances, kept pace. They're the innovators. They embrace new technologies and implement best practices to improve efficiency and productivity in their mail operations. They're always working to improve their operations and provide customers with a mail product that delivers increased value and business results. And the mailing industry benefits overall.
Charles Schwab & Co., a leading provider of financial services, prides itself on its dedication to client satisfaction. In view of the fact that an overwhelming majority of its clients prefer to receive monthly account statements through the mail, and because of the highly personal and sensitive nature of the information contained in a monthly statement, Charles Schwab has focused on ways to improve the statement mailing process.
Charles Schwab worked with its national account manager and the Postal Service Intelligent Mail program manager on solutions to improve its mailing methods. It developed a Lean Six Sigma team to reduce the amount of mail that was undeliverable and had an "old" or incorrect address. For mail that is either flagged during the NCOA scrub or is undeliverable, Charles Schwab developed a course of action that includes calling the client, e-mailing the client, and, as a last resort, restricting the client's brokerage account until the client's address can be confirmed. This was all done on the client's behalf to prevent fraudulent account activity.
As a result of this strategy, Charles Schwab has been able to decrease the percentage of mail that is undeliverable or addressed to an incorrect address. With the success of the mailing statement project, Charles Schwab also has reduced the opportunity for fraudulent account activity. It is now looking into being approved for the "99 percent rule," which is one of the alternative methods that meets Move Update requirements. To qualify, a mailer must demonstrate that its database maintains address quality at 99 percent or greater accuracy for Change of Address.
The National Postal Forum is the mailing industry's premier educational venue, trade show and networking event for industry professionals. Since 1967, it has provided business mailers with ongoing training and education, and helped them keep pace with the mailing industry's rapid growth.
For more information on the 2009 National Postal Forum, visit www.npf.org.
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An independent federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 149 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes, six days a week. It has 34,000 retail locations and relies on the sale of postage, products and services, not tax dollars, to pay for operating expenses. Named the Most Trusted Government Agency five consecutive years by the Ponemon Institute, the Postal Service has annual revenue of $75 billion and delivers nearly half the world's mail.
