Demystifying UAA Mail Where did it come from? How can we fix it? National Postal Forum May 17 – 20, 2015 Gary Seitz, Executive Vice President, C.TRAC Jim Wilson, Manager, Address Management, USPS ® 1

 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? Agenda 2

How does the USPS ® define “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

4 Forward 22.7¢ / pc Billion pieces $229.6 Million Waste 6.1¢ / pc Billion pieces $253.4 Million New Address Return 52.5¢ / pc Billion pieces $769.8 Million Original Address Mailer 2014 Christensen UAA Report

5 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 Volume160 billion 158 billion (-1.2%) 155 billion (-3.2%) UAA Volume As % of Mail Change 6.76 billion (4.23%) 6.78 billion (4.28%) (+.003%) 6.61 billion (4.26%) (-2.5%) First-Class UAA Mail2.54 billion2.44 billion2.38 billion Standard UAA Mail4.01 billion4.13 billion4.03 billion Industry Problem Undeliverable-As-Addressed (UAA) Mail

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

7  24 of 100 mailpieces contain address errors  4 of 100 mailpieces are Undeliverable-As-Addressed (UAA) First-Class Mail UAA 3.6% Standard Mail UAA 5.0% 7 UAA Mail

8  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 8

Reasons Why Mail Is Undeliverable  Customer No Longer Receives Mail at Address: 75.8% Requires Forwarding:29.1% Forwardable, Not Eligible:19.2% Not Forwardable:27.5%  Address Element(s) Incorrect:12.4%  Other Reasons:11.8% Vacant7.7% No Mail Receptacle2.9% Refused0.9% Other0.3% 9

 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 10 Other UAA Characteristics

How to Fix UAA Problems  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 ™ 11

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 Name Formats 12

Address Formats 13 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

CASS ™ Address Element Correction LACS Link ® DPV ® – Vacant Table DPV ® NCOA Link® Tools-of-the-Trade You Should Be Using To Improve Address Quality! 14 ACS ® Full-Service, OneCode, Traditional

 CASS + DPV ® CASS Correct address, assigns ZIP+4 IF….. DPV Validates that USPS delivers to street number, Complete address, including secondary address information  CASS assigns error codes  Not all CASS systems are the same Parsing logic varies Coding variances from 80% to 90% on same file CASS™ - Coding Accuracy Support System

Use The Right Tools – CASS ™ /DPV ®  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 16

Use The Right Tools – CASS ™ /DPV ® CASS/DPV Vacant Table  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 ™ /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®  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. 19

CASS™ & DPV ® report

Error reporting from CASS™

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 What’s wrong?

Address Element Correction 23 Return To Sender Insufficient Information

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 $21 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

2015 AEC II ® with Delivery Force Knowledge ™

Check out the AEC Calculator on RIBBS ® 26

27  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) NCOA Link® Service

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 28

If we can’t cut the volume, we can cut the cost! 29 Secured Destruction  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 Ask yourself: Do you really need the mailpiece back? You can trust the USPS ® to securely destroy your mailpieces.

Leverage Additional Resources – Hidden Moves  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 30

Leverage Additional Resources 31 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

Leverage Additional Resources 32 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

Geocode Improves the effectiveness of your direct marketing campaigns with more targeted campaign lists. 33

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$! 34

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® 37

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 41

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 42

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

Monday Colleges and University Addressing: Issues and Opportunities Jim Wilson / Richard Boudrero – Beginner – Period 7, 11 am Keeping It Simple: ACS™ Services – It’s All in the Service Type ID Kai Fisher – Intermediate – Period 7, 11 am Growing a Great Address Quality Foundation Ed Wanta / Wanda Senne –Beginner – Period 9, 2:45 pm Your Software is Talking, Are You Listening? Angela Lawson / Chris Lien – Intermediate – Period 10, 4 pm Sunday Demystifying UAA – Where did it come from? How can we fix it? Jim Wilson / Gary Seitz – Beginner – Period 6, 4 pm USPS ® Co-Presentations Schedule Tuesday Leveraging the NCSC RIBBS Site – Understanding What’s Available to You Ed Wanta – Delivery Solutions Theater, 1:30 pm Wednesday 360 o Perspective of Address Element Correction (AEC)/AEC II ® Angela Lawson / Dan O’Brien – All Levels – Period 16, 8 am

Thank You! 45