18-month data
Moves filed in the last 18 months, with new addresses. Used by Limited Service Provider and End User Mailer licensees.
NCOALink explained
NCOALink change-of-address processing, explained
What NCOALink is, which change-of-address data you can use, and how it keeps your mailings compliant with the USPS Move Update standard.
The basics
What is NCOALink?
When people move, most file a change-of-address (COA) request with the U.S. Postal Service. NCOALink® is the USPS product that lets licensed software compare a mailing list against those COA records, so you can find the people who moved and, where available, their new address.
MaxMover is NCOALink change-of-address software. It checks your list against more than 160 million COA records, which USPS updates weekly, then updates or flags each record that matched.
COA data
18-month vs. 48-month change-of-address data
How far back your updates reach depends on your NCOALink license. MaxMover works with both data sets.
48-month data
Four years of moves with new addresses, for the deepest coverage. Available through Full Service Provider licensees.
ANKLink® (optional)
Adds 30 more months of move notices to 18-month processing: you learn someone moved in months 19 to 48, without the new address.
ANKLink
Know about older moves, even without a new address
A move that happened two or three years ago is past the 18-month window, so standard processing won’t catch it. ANKLink® tells you the move happened. You can then suppress the record and stop paying to mail it, or send it to a Full Service Provider to find the new address.
According to USPS, ANKLink is available only to NCOALink Limited Service Providers and End User Mailers. MaxMover supports it as an option. USPS ANKLink details.
- Flags moves from months 19 through 48
- Suppress or research flagged records before you mail
- Less undeliverable-as-addressed (UAA) mail
Move Update
Meeting the USPS Move Update standard
To claim presorted or automation prices for First-Class Mail® and USPS Marketing Mail®, USPS requires mailers to show that their list was updated within 95 days before the mailing date. NCOALink processing is one of the approved ways to do it, and MaxMover is compliant with the Move Update requirements.
One more rule: USPS requires CASS™ processing on a list before Move Update processing, so your addresses are standardized first. See USPS Address Quality Solutions for the full standard.
- Updated within 95 days of each mailing
- Protects your presort and automation discounts
- CASS first, then NCOALink
Licensing
Supports every NCOALink license model
Full Service Provider
Process lists for clients with 48 months of COA data.
Limited Service Provider
Process lists for clients with 18 months of data, plus optional ANKLink.
End User Mailer
Process your own organization’s lists with 18 months of data, plus optional ANKLink.
Why it matters
The cost of skipping it
USPS estimates that nearly 40 million people move every year, and in 2023 it handled 2.5 billion undeliverable-as-addressed mailpieces. Every one of those was paid for. See the USPS UAA mail statistics, then see how MaxMover’s features keep your list off that pile.
Find out how much of your list has moved.
Book a demo and see MaxMover match your records against USPS change-of-address data, then decide how to apply the updates.