CASS Certification

CASS certification is a system that is used by the United States Postal Service for evaluating the accuracy of address-matching software programs. An acronym for Coding Accuracy Support System, CASS certification is offered to all mailers, service bureaus, and software vendors who want to evaluate their address-matching software and improve the quality of their ZIP+4, carrier route, and five-digit coding accuracy.

Why Get CASS Certification

Businesses spend thousands of dollars on tax lawyers in order to avoid giving money to the government. Getting a CASS certification will only cost you a few dollars but the end result is the same: you avoid giving too much money to the government, or more precisely the post office.

To receive CASS certification for your address list, you must check this against the USPS Address Matching System (AMS) CD-ROM. The System will find a match for each address and the correct 11-digit Delivery Point ZIP code and corresponding barcode. Once it does, the CASS certification will be appended.

Businesses that make use of automation bulk mailing lists will benefit from CASS certification since it indicates that your address list has been verified with the information in the USPS through their AMS program.

Getting CASS Certification

CASS certification is renewable after one calendar year. As such, you must apply for certification each year. Application is done by submitting test data to CASS online.

CASS Certification Software

In order to perform address verification, mailers must use CASS certification software by the USPS. The software is similar to tax software in that users must update it annually, as mentioned above, to maintain the certification status.

To indicate that the bulk mailing has CASS certification and has been checked using the Address Matching System and meets all USPS specifications, a PS 3553, also known as a CASS certificate, should be included in the list.

Methods of CASS Certification for Envelope Managers

There are two methods for CASS certification. These are:

Method 1: Internet Dial-A-ZIP ®

This is patented technology used by Envelope Manager Software to indicate that the US addresses have CASS certification. Available online, the method is entirely free to access through either TCP/IP or HTTP.

The service suits any size address list, with no limit on address submissions and without having to purchase a CD-ROM subscription. If you are low to medium volume mailer, you might find this CASS certification service useful and more cost-effective.

Method 2: AMS CD-ROM

The second method of getting CASS certification is through a CD-ROM subscription. Envelope Manager is a licensed AMS reseller for use on any users PC. To ensure that the data is always up to date, the CD-ROMs are distributed bi-monthly. Since new CD-ROMs are issued by the USPS on the 15th of each even numbered month, Envelope Manager offers a total of xi CD-ROMs per year.