Acronyms abound in the postal system, just as in the printing and publishing industry. Here we define some mailing acronyms you may have heard and which may help you save on postage.

CASS is the Coding Accuracy Support System certification used for verification of address, city, state, and zip information within the USPS acceptable address range required for automation mailing.

DPV, or Delivery Point Validation certification, identifies whether a Zip + 4 coded address is currently represented in the USPS delivery file as a known address record and is required for automation discounts.

IMB, which stands for Intelligent Mail Barcode, is required by the USPS as of November 2009 in order to obtain the best mailing discount available. IMB provides domestic mail tracking and decreases some printing requirements on mailing pieces because the barcode contains more information than its predecessor.

LACS, or Locatable Address Change Service, certifies that updates to addresses which have been changed by USPS such as city annexes, residential development, or rural route changes, are also updated in a publication’s mailing list.

NCOA stands for National Change of Address. It compares a mailing list with the National Change of Address database maintained by the USPS and automatically updates the address if the recipient has filed a change of address card with the USPS. The service provides Move Update compliance (the USPS requirement of address verification every 95 days for First Class and Standard mail).

PAVE is the software used for Presort Accuracy Validation and Evaluation certified mailings. PAVE presorts mail lists and determines discounts available from USPS for first class, periodical, standard, and package services.