Move Update Options

Mailers are required to update all addresses on discounted First-Class Mail and USPS Marketing Mail within 95 days before a mailing. The Postal Service makes the following Move Update options available to mailers at reasonable costs. You need to determine which of the following methods work best for your organization:

1. NCOALink Systems: The NCOA^Link process provides change of address (COA) data, submitted by customers who have moved and have notified the Postal Service of a COA. Updated 18- or 48-month computerized COA information is provided on a regular basis to the NCOA^Link licensees by the Postal Service. NCOA^Link is very effective because it corrects your addresses before you send your mailpieces.

NCOA^Link — The NCOA^Link product is a secure dataset of approximately 160 million permanent COA records consisting of names and addresses of individuals, families, and businesses who have filed a change of address with the Postal Service. Developed with secure data store technology to increase security of postal customer data and protect the privacy of this information, the NCOA^Link product enables mailers to process mailing lists and update lists with new addresses prior to mailing. The NCOA^Link data is provided on a regular basis to companies that have been licensed by the Postal Service. For assistance with NCOA^Link, email NCOALink@usps.gov or call 800-589-5766.

2. Address Change Service: ACS is an address correction service that provides mailers a cost-effective means of obtaining current COA information when mail is UAA. ACS allows you to update address files electronically, eliminating the cost, time, and errors of manual keying. ACS provides a data file that includes new address information or the reason your mail cannot be delivered (examples: “Attempted – Not Known” or “Insufficient Address”). The Postal Service will charge an electronic or automated address correction fee for each address correction record provided, unless mailers use Full-Service ACS. With ACS, you get corrected information for your mailpiece after the mailing. For more information about ACS, go to https://postalpro.usps.com/address-quality/ACS.
3. Ancillary Service Endorsements (ASE): ASEs are used to request an addressee’s new address and to provide the Postal Service with instructions on how to handle your mail if it is UAA. “Address Service Requested,” “Change Service Requested,” and “Return Service Requested” endorsements meet the Move Update standards and provide you with the new address or the reason the mail cannot be delivered through either a separate address correction notice (PS Form 3547, Notice to Mailer of Correction in Address) for the return of your mail. Manual address correction fees for return postage may apply. For more information on ASE, see DMM507.1.5 at https://pe.usps.gov/text/dmm300/507.htm#ep1223780.

Note: ACS and ASE are post-mailing updates, and do not meet the Move Update requirement the first time you use it for the mailing. For an address to meet the Move Update requirement using ACS or an ASE, you must mail to your customers at least once every 95 days and update the addresses used on the mailpieces prior to the next mailing. You must use an approved pre-mailing method or mail the pieces at the single piece First-Class Mail rate if it is more than 95 days in between your mailings, or if this is the first time you will mail to an address not obtained directly from the addressee (in the last 95 days).

Additional information on how to comply with the Move Update standard can be found in the Guide to Move Update at https://postalpro.usps.com/moveupdate/guide and DMM 602.5 at https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/602.htm.