National Change of Address (48-Month NCOALinkTM)
Automatically update your contact records for customers that move.
DSF2 processing is provided by a nonexclusive licensee of the United States Postal Service. Melissa Data is a nonexclusive Interface Distributor and NCOALink Full Service Provider, DPV and LACSLink Licensee of the United States Postal Service. The prices for NCOALink and DPV services are not established, controlled, or approved by the United States Postal Service.
The NCOALinkTM database contains a 48-month history of national change of address (NCOA) information submitted to the USPS from individuals, families, and companies. Addresses on the file are standardized and appended with the most recent forwarding addresses. Multiple moves are chained together to provide the most current address from any prior address in the chain. Since over 50 million or approximately 18-20% of households and businesses in the United States move each year, the NCOALinkTM service is increasingly valuable in reducing undeliverable mail and helping increase response rates.
NCOA mover address update processing involves matching your contact file to the USPS master database of individuals, families and businesses that have moved during the past 48 months. This master file is updated weekly and contains 80% of movers who report their new address to the USPS.
Your result file will contain your original input file with the new, corrected data appended. Fields indicating the move type and the move date are also included. A summary report provides you with statistical data describing your results and a record layout defines field positioning and content.
Benefits
- Save money by qualifying for the USPS's mover-update / NCOA postal discounts.
- Prevent the lost revenue that occurs from losing track of customers.
- Increase marketing campaign ROI by improving deliverability.
- Improve cash flow and reduce collection costs by maintaining accurate billing records.
- Reduce environmental and financial costs associated with undeliverable mail.
- Improve the accuracy of data analysis and comparison processes.
- Save costs associated with manual mover tracking.
Match Rates
3-8% Range.
Match Rate Factors
- List age (older lists may contain more movers)
- List type (some organizations are more likely than others to be notified directly of moves)
- List demographics (younger and more transient people are less likely to report moves to the USPS)
Related Services
The CASSTM Address Standardization service is included with NCOALinkTM.
Consider choosing NCOALinkTM TotalSource Enhancement instead of NCOALink to identify even more movers.
For enhanced address accuracy it is advisable to also run LACS and DSF2 with your CASSTM service.
File Format Specification
Please see the File Format Specification for information on required input and standard result fields.
This service also appends the following fields:
| Field Name | Length | Description |
|---|---|---|
| NCOALinkTM Flag | 1 | A = NCOALinkTM Hit, Address Updated
B = NCOALinkTM Hit, Address Not Updated : Match Failed or Non-Deliverable Forwarding Address C = NCOALinkTM Hit, Address Not Updated : Foreign Move E = No NCOALinkTM Hit |
| NCOALinkTM Return Code | 2 | A = COA Match - The input record matched to a business, individual or family type master file record. A new address could be furnished. 00 = No Match - The input record COULD NOT BE matched to a master file record. A new address could not be furnished. 01 = Found COA: Foreign Move 02 = Found COA: Moved Left No Address (MLNA) 03 = Found COA: Box Closed No Order (BCNO) 04 = Cannot match COA: Street Address with Secondary 05 = Found COA: New 11 digit DPBC is Ambiguous 06 = Cannot match COA: Conflicting Directions - Middle Name Related 07 = Cannot Match COA: Conflicting Directions - Gender Related 08 = Cannot Match COA: Other Conflicting Instructions 09 = Cannot Match COA: High-rise Default 10 = Cannot Match COA: Rural Default 11 = Cannot Match COA: Individual Match 12 = Cannot Match COA: Middle Name Test Failed 13 = Cannot Match COA: Gender Test Failed 14 = Found COA: New Address Would Not Convert at Run Time 15 = Cannot Match COA: Individual Name Insufficient 16 = Cannot Match COA: Secondary Number Discrepancy 17 = Cannot Match COA: Other Insufficient Name 18 = Cannot Match COA: General Delivery 19 = Found COA: New Address not ZIP+4 Coded 20 = Cannot Match COA: Conflicting Directions after re-chaining 66 = Daily Delete 91 = COA Match: Secondary Number dropped from COA 92 = COA Match: Secondary Number dropped from input address |
| NCOALinkTM New Address Level Of Match | 1 | A = Secondary alphanumeric match failed
B = PO Box record C = Highway contract with Box number record D = Rural Route default record E = Alphanumeric match in numeric range, primary number F = Firm record G = General delivery record H = Highrise or building record I = Alphanumeric match in numeric range, building/highrise secondary number J = Alphanumeric match in numeric range, HC Box number K = Highway Contract default record L = Building default record M = Military ZIP default record N = Non-deliverable record O = Alphanumeric match in numeric range, PO Box number P = Postmaster record Q = Alphanumeric match in numeric range, RR Box number R = Rural Route with Box number record S = Street record T = Small town default U = Unique zip code default V = Alphanumeric match in numeric range, firm record secondary number W = Not used X = No match to ZIP+4 by USPS contractor Y = Ambiguous dual, no match |
| NCOALinkTM Move Type | 1 | I = Individual
F = Family B = Firm (company) |
| NCOALinkTM Move Effective Date | 6 | This field indicates the move effective date. e.g. “200902” |
