The United States Postal Service® (USPS®) has developed a new technology product that helps mailers update addresses with the latest change-of-address information on file. Mailers are able to process a mailing list and update that list using secure data store technology. This new technology is called NCOALink and is made available under license from the USPS. So, why the change now ?

A Brief History

Previously, mailers could process their address records using FASTforward® or National Change of Address (NCOA) commercial processing to obtain change-of-address information. Both of these services kept mailers in compliance with the USPS Move Update requirement in order to qualify mailing lists for First-Class Mail® Automation and Presort discounts. However, this generation of change-of-address products eventually required a higher level of security to protect the data and stay compliant with the United States Code protections for address lists.

Under current practices, the USPS continues to restrict the release of NCOA data to a limited number of licensees in the United States. These licensees are authorized to provide new address information, but only to mailers that are in possession of lists containing the name and prior address. FASTforward satisfied the same restriction, but in another way, by enclosing the data in a secure box and creating the requirement for a specific interface that was approved and monitored by the USPS. Only then would FASTforward be able to provide address forwarding information. The Licensees to whom USPS provides NCOA data are closely monitored to ensure they comply with all licensing requirements while using the data in a prescribed manner.

Because of the strict requirements to access NCOA or FASTforward, the use of move update information is not widespread within the mailing industry. Mailers are often unwilling or unable to send address files to NCOA Licensees or through the FASTforward system. As a result, mailers continue to create mail with deficient addresses that result in additional processing and handling costs for the USPS. In an effort to reduce this problem, USPS developed a new product called NCOALink.


NCOALink Safeguards your data

NCOALink provides a better way of protecting move update data under new guidelines and legal requirements established by USPS. Although USPS also enabled mailing list processors to release updated address information previously (through NCOA), the NCOALink database is a major technological advance based on safeguarded information that is totally undecipherable to anyone looking at it. NCOALink data is based on an encrypted mathematical formulation that is converted back to simple text after a mailing list has been processed. As a result, high volume mailers can easily integrate NCOALink data directly into their own in-house computer systems.

Everyone Wins with NCOALink

Improving the quality of address information benefits everyone from the customer, to the mailer, and right up the line to USPS. Mailers benefit by catching updated address information more readily in addition to a reduction in mailing costs, and other business expenses associated with handling inaccurate address information. The USPS benefits from reduced volumes of undeliverable-as-addressed mail which results in lower processing and handling costs. And mail customers are assured of greater privacy along with safer delivery of their mail. This win-win-win result for mailers, customers, and the USPS has made the transition from NCOA and FASTforward Mailing List Correction (MLC) to NCOALink a popular one, indeed!

How will NCOALink be made available?

NCOALink is licensed to a limited number of high volume mailers and Service Bureaus that process mailing lists for their clients. Why does USPS require a license to obtain NCOALink?

USPS provides NCOALink through a restricted licensing program to ensure that the use of USPS proprietary, intellectual property is limited to its intended purpose. These purposes must fall within specific USPS guidelines in order to continually protect the security of change-of-address information. NCOALink licenses are enforced under provisions by the USPS.

The program strategy for providing NCOALink is beneficial to the USPS, licensed providers, and the mailing industry. The program will be implemented under a two-phase model. Phase 1 is to engage interested parties in writing a certified interface to the data product. Phase 2 is to license the use of the data to mailers and service bureaus that use a certified interface. Mailers opting to use a certified interface similar to their current process should be able to implement the new address update technology in their daily processes without having to reengineer their entire business process.

The secure nature of NCOALink will allow developers to provide access to sensitive address data in a more convenient and secure format, reducing much of the administrative oversight by the USPS required under the current format. The USPS benefits from wider distribution and use of the NCOALink Product to improve address quality and reduce undeliverable-as-addressed mail. NCOALink opens up new opportunities for mailers to use the mail as the most effective communication medium at the lowest-possible cost for both the mailer and the United States Postal Service.

For additional information on pursuing a NCOALink license, contact the Move Update Support Department at 1-800-589-5766.