• Increase the minimum frequency of Move Update processing from 185 calendar days to 95 days prior to the date of mailing.
• Extend the revised Move Update standards to include all Standard Mail (letters, flats, parcels and Not Flat-Machinables), as well as automation-rate and presort-rate First-Class Mail.

The Postal Service and the mailing industry believe these revised standards are crucial to the business interests of mailers as well as the continued vitality of the postal system. In fiscal year 2004, the Postal Service handled    9.7 billion pieces of undeliverable-as-addressed (UAA) mail at a cost of $1.85 billion. These revised standards will result in better address quality by removing incorrectly addressed pieces from subsequent mailings, which will reduce UAA mail.

Move Update Requirement for All Standard Mail

A key reason for this extension is that one of the conclusions of an independent study of the cost, volume and characteristics of UAA mail found that mail entered as Standard Mail accounted for 62.8 percent of all UAA mail volume.

For Standard Mail mailers, the new Move Update standard does not mean that you begin an updating process on Nov. 23, but rather, starting Nov. 23, mailers must begin using addresses that were updated within the previous 95 days. For example, a mailing entered on Dec. 1 must bear addresses that were updated no earlier than Aug. 28. 

Authorized methods for Standard Mail to qualify for the Move Update standards include:

• NCOA^Link processing.
• FASTforward MLOCR processing (letter mail only). 
• OneCode ACS (Address Change Service) in conjunction with an Intelligent Mail barcode and a mailer ID. 
• Address Change Service 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.    

Keep in mind, to complete the Move Update process, mailers who rely on ACS or on-piece ancillary service endorsements without ACS, must incorporate the address changes received prior to subsequent mailings. Also, if an address used on a mailpiece in a mailing at one class of mail is updated with an approved method, the same address may be used during the following 95 days in another mailing as well as another class of mail, and meets the Move Update standard.

Mailpieces using an alternative addressing format in Domestic Mail Manual 602.3.0, such as “John Doe or Current Resident,” “Occupant” or “Postal Customer,” are not subject to the Move Update standards. Alternative address formats, however, may not be used on mailpieces with any extra service, such as Delivery Confirmation, with any ancillary service endorsement, or mail addressed to an overseas military post office.

Outback Communications can NCOA your mailing list, and we can sort the list and get your mail into the world of automation discounts. Contact us today!

Dont fret, we have a permit! If you are mailing out catalogs, flyers or other items that you used to mail at BPM, we can still mail them for you! We actually might be able to mail them at lower postage rates cheaper than you were mailing at before!  Contact us @ Outback Communications and we will get to work on your project!

If you want to read more about what BPM is click HERE. Otherwise, keep reading about the rule change.

SUMMARY:
In this final rule, the Postal Service is revising mailing standards for all Bound Printed Matter (mail) (BPM). In March we filed a notice with the Postal Regulatory Commission for a classification change requiring all mailings of Bound Printed Matter (mail) be paid by permit only. The Commission agreed, and we are moving forward with the change.

Postage payment for BPM mailings: carrier route, presorted, and nonpresorted (single-piece) flats and parcels, regardless of volume, are limited to permit imprint. Mailers can no longer affix postage by adhesive stamps, postage meter, or PC Postage®. BPM will not be accepted at retail counters, in collection boxes, or by carriers and must be deposited and accepted at the Post Office™ facility that issued the permit. Merchandise Return Service (MRS) permit holders may continue to pay nonpresorted BPM prices on eligible items returned with a MRS label.

EFFECTIVE DATE: September 11, 2008.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carol A. Lunkins at 202-268-7262.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Mailers who are presently authorized to pay postage via permit imprint may use their existing permit to mail BPM at the Post Office where the permit is held. Mailers who wish to obtain a new authorization to pay postage via permit imprint must complete an application and pay a one-time application fee at each office of mailing to mail BPM on or after September 11, 2008. Authorization is obtained by submitting PS Form 3615, Mailing Permit Application and Customer Profile, and the applicable fee to the Post Office where mailings are to be deposited. As long as a permit remains active, there is no additional fee for use of a permit imprint indicia, but other fees (e.g., an annual destination entry mailing fee) may be due depending on where the mail is deposited.

Payment for postage must be made for each mailing through an advance deposit account before the mailing can be released for processing. Funds to pay postage must be deposited as directed by the USPS®.