Demystifying UAA Mail Where did it come from? How can we fix it? National Postal Forum March 20 – 23, 2016 Jim Wilson, A/Director, Addressing & Geospatial Technology, USPS ® 1

Agenda  Industry challenge – Undeliverable-As-Addressed (UAA) mail What is UAA mail? How serious is it?  What are common causes of UAA?  How do I fix my UAA problems? How do CASS ™ & NCOA Link® affect UAA? More than processing your files  What are some other solutions? 2

USPS ® definition of “UAA Mail” UAA mail is all mail that cannot be delivered to the name and address specified on the mailpiece, and must be forwarded, returned or properly treated as waste as authorized for the class of mail and ancillary service endorsement on the mailpiece. Mail may be considered UAA because:  The individual, family or business has moved  The address is incomplete, incorrect or illegible  The addressee is unknown or deceased  The addressee refuses or fails to claim the mail  The necessary postage has not been paid 3

Forward 22.2¢ / pc Million pieces $220.9 Million Waste 6.3¢ / pc Billion pieces $253.5 Million New Address Return 54.2¢ / pc Billion pieces $788.6 Million Original Address Mailer 2015 Christensen UAA Report 4

 Even though mail volume is decreasing  UAA volume remains a significant problem  UAA volume declined this past year Get updated UAA information on RIBBS: Total Mail Volume 158 billion (-0.92%) 155 billion (-1.80%) 154 billion (-0.89%) UAA Volume As % of Mail Change 6.78 billion (4.28%) (+.003%) 6.61 billion (4.25%) (-2.5%) 6.47 billion (4.20%) (-2.1%) First-Class UAA Mail2.44 billion2.38 billion2.39 billion Standard UAA Mail4.13 billion4.03 billion3.88 billion Industry Problem Undeliverable-As-Addressed (UAA) Mail 5

Billions of Pieces Industry Problem Undeliverable-As-Addressed (UAA) Mail 6

Millions of Pieces First-Class UAA Mail by Age of COA 7 Month 60%

UAA Mail  24 of 100 mailpieces contain address errors  4 of 100 mailpieces are Undeliverable-As-Addressed (UAA) First-Class Mail ® UAA 3.74% Standard Mail ® UAA 4.85% 8

UAA Mail  Wasted costs Industry estimate $1 - $3 per piece in operational costs (postage, print, handling, research, r ing)  Lost / Delayed revenue  Impact to clients Reduced customer satisfaction Lost marketing opportunities Lost customers 9

Reasons Why Mail Is Undeliverable 10

Other UAA Characteristics  A “conservative” estimate is that each year, 2.2 billion mailpieces are delivered without complete address information Requires carrier’s personal knowledge Additional $160 million USPS ® cost  An additional 1.2 billion mailpieces lack complete address information and have to be returned or disposed Additional $185 million USPS cost 11

How to Fix UAA Problems 12  Correct Implementing a solution at point of capture Apply CASS ™ & LACS Link® updates to your file Identify records that do not CASS/DPV for correction  Complete Suite Link® Apartment append  Current Pr ing – NCOA Link® Post-mailing – Ancillary Service Endorsements & ACS ™

Name Formats Check your database  First and Last names  No “mixed” data fields! No business titles in name No names in the address No company names in the address  Name fields are used for postal matching 13

Address Formats Check your database  Enough space (30 to 50 characters)  Secondary address information  Proper address elements  Proper abbreviations Publication 28 Pick up a copy at the USPS ® booth or download from pubs/Pub28/pub28.pdf 14

Tools-of-the-Trade You Should Be Using To Improve Address Quality! 15

Use The Right Tools – CASS ™ /DPV ® 16  First-line tool to standardize addresses and determine correct Postal codes Verify or correct street name elements ZIP Code ™, ZIP + 4 ® code, Carrier Route  CASS/DPV validates the specific accuracy of street numbers and apartment or suite numbers Prevent entry of incomplete addresses at point-of- capture and update with the correct address Identify addresses in a mailing list with known deficiencies that may affect deliverability

 Access the Vacant Table to reduce UAA  Mail sent to vacant addresses accounts 7.7% of all UAA Second most common reason for UAA mail  Identify addresses that may be vacant before you mail!  Ask your CASS vendor about how to incorporate the Vacant Table in your address hygiene processing. 17 Use The Right Tools – CASS ™ /DPV ® CASS/DPV Vacant Table

Use The Right Tools – CASS ™ /LACS Link® 18  LACS Link updates addresses changed due to local community address conversions or implementation  Approximately 400,000 rural route/box numbers changed each year since 1994  Also used for street name changes or address renumbering

Use The Right Tools – CASS ™ /LACS Link® 19  Example of address conversion Original:RR 2 Box 1948 Somecity US Converted:1 Bryant LN Somecity US Original:35 QUEEN ST CHRISTIANSTED VI Converted:2212 QUEEN CROSS ST CHRISTIANSTED VI  USPS ® policy is to deliver mail bearing original address for one year following address conversion.  After one year mail with original address may be returned to sender.

CASS™ & DPV ® Report 20

Error Reporting from CASS™ 21

What’s Wrong?  RUN-ON145SOUTHMILLS ST  EXTRA DIGITS/CHARACTERS10000 EUCLID AVE  PRE-DIRECTIONALS17 SO WATT CT  SUFFIX ABBREVIATION492 JACKSON BL  MISPLACED SECONDARY47 A CEDAR RD  ALPHA/NUMERICS5!7 M0SS ST 22

Address Element Correction Return To Sender Insufficient Information 23

Have Addresses That Just Won’t Match?  Address Element Correction (AEC) may be the solution! Send any addresses that can’t be matched using CASS™/DPV ® to USPS ® for correction  AEC Advanced address-matching based on USPS-developed algorithms  Typically resolves approximately 30% of addresses  Costs $23 per 1,000 records processed  AEC II ® Unresolved AEC addresses sent to local delivery office for Delivery Force Knowledge ™ resolution  32¢ charge for corrected or resolved addresses 24

2015 AEC II ® with Delivery Force Knowledge ™ 25

NCOA Link® Service  A pr ing Move Update method leveraging USPS ® provided data  Data delivery from USPS to certified licensees  Four levels of usage for certified licensees: End User Mailer (18 months of data updated monthly) Limited Service Provider (18 months of data updated weekly) Mail Processing Equipment (18 months of data updated weekly) Full-Service Provider (48 months of data updated weekly) 26

ACS ™ Service  ACS is a post-mailing address correction service that allows mailers to receive change-of-address (COA) information and other reasons for non-delivery electronically  ACS is available for use with all classes of mail  Can, and in most cases, must be combined with Ancillary Service Endorsements, such as Address Service Requested Change Service Requested Return Service Requested  ACS supports the Secure Destruction program 27

If we can’t cut the volume, we can cut the cost!  Reduces USPS ® costs of returning First-Class™ UAA mail $0.43 per piece to return $0.11 to waste  Potential to reduce mailer costs associated with handling and destroying returned mail 28 Secured Destruction Do you really need the mailpiece back? Ask yourself: Do you really need the mailpiece back? You can trust the USPS ® to securely destroy your mailpieces.

 Some people don’t provide a forwarding address  It’s not required by law  They forget, don’t care or don’t want to be found 29 Leverage Additional Resources – Hidden Moves

Leverage Additional Resources Uses Social Security Administration data Identify the deceased Focus on reaching the people who are receptive to receiving your message Flag those on the “Do Not Mail” Database 30

Leverage Additional Resources A Proprietary Change of Address service compiles moves from magazines, utilities, etc. Locate people who haven’t filed their move with USPS ® Complete residential addresses to reach more people on your target list. Append Apartment Numbers 31

Geocode Improves the effectiveness of your direct marketing campaigns with more targeted campaign lists. 32

Mail Costs Take a step back…what are the obvious costs?  Printing, paper and labor  Postage  Any return service and address correction fees All ju$t mailing-related co$t$! 33

NATIONAL CUSTOMER SUPPORT CENTER 225 N HUMPHREYS BLVD STE 501 MEMPHIS TN

NATIONAL CUSTOMER SUPPORT CENTER 225 N HUMPHREYS BLVD STE 501 MEMPHIS TN

NATIONAL CUSTOMER SUPPORT CENTER 225 N HUMPHREYS BLVD STE 501 MEMPHIS TN LACS Link® 36

NATIONAL CUSTOMER SUPPORT CENTER 225 N HUMPHREYS BLVD STE 501 MEMPHIS TN

NATIONAL CUSTOMER SUPPORT CENTER 225 N HUMPHREYS BLVD STE 501 MEMPHIS TN

NATIONAL CUSTOMER SUPPORT CENTER 225 N HUMPHREYS BLVD STE 501 MEMPHIS TN

Summary  Be aware of the impact of undeliverable records  Know the quality of the records you are mailing  Correct undeliverable records to reduce costs incurred by returned mail or pieces that get thrown out by the carrier  Improve customer service – ensure recipients actually get their mail in a timely manner 40

Reducing Your UAA is Achievable!  It is important to everyone in the mailing industry to make effective delivery of all mail a goal and reduce the volume and cost of UAA!  Your United States Postal Service ® provides many products and services to assist you in reducing undeliverable-as- addressed mail  Become familiar with commercial address hygiene products and service solutions that are available Visit the Exhibit Hall to learn more 41

For More Information ribbs.usps.gov National Customer Support Center

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