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National Change of Address (NCOALink™)
Automatically update your contact records for customers that move.
The NCOALink™ 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 NCOALink™ 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.
Delivery Options
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 Address Standardization & Correction service is included with NCOALink™.
Consider choosing NCOALink™ TotalSource Enhancement instead of NCOALink™ to identify even more movers.
For enhanced address accuracy it is advisable to also run the Locatable Address Conversion System (LACSLink™) and Delivery Sequence File (DSF2™) services.
File Format Specification
*Please note that following our file format specifications is required only for our Self-Service products.
Please see our File Format Specification page for more information on required input and standard result fields.
The National Change of Address (NCOALink™) service also appends the following fields:
A = NCOALink™ Hit, Address Updated
B = NCOALink™ Hit, Address Not Updated : Match Failed or Non-Deliverable Forwarding Address
C = NCOALink™ Hit, Address Not Updated : Foreign Move
E = No NCOALink™ Hit
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
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
I = Individual
F = Family
B = Firm (company)
This field indicates the move effective date. (e.g. "200902")
DSF2 processing is provided by a nonexclusive 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.
I especially appreciate when you are able to accommodate our last minute requests as I know you will always come through for us.
University of Toronto
Time and again, your team demonstrated great flexibility under rigid turnaround schedules without compromising the integrity of the data.Experian Information Solutions
I have complete confidence in knowing that you will go the extra mile to solve the many technological problems that we stumble across during a project.TD Bank Financial Group
