United States Reaches $8.9 Million Settlement with Milwaukee Company Accused of Improperly Taking Bulk Mail Discounts

ST. LOUIS – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri has finalized a civil settlement to resolve allegations that Fiserv Inc. and Fiserv Solutions LLC failed to comply with the United States Postal Service (USPS) Move Update standard and took improper postage discounts.  

As part of the settlement, Fiserv will repay the United States $8,994,221, of which $5,032,525 is restitution to the USPS.  

Fiserv is a global company, headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin that provides customers with printing and mailing services for items such as invoices, financial statements, health care related documents and credit cards. Fiserv operates a facility in Hazlewood, Missouri. The settlement announced today resolves allegations that Fiserv did not properly comply with the USPS Move Update standard that allows mailers to claim postage discounts on presorted and bulk mail. The Move Update standard is a means for the USPS to reduce the amount of mail that requires forwarding or return by the periodic matching and updating of addresses.

The settlement resolves allegations brought under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act by Deborah Lynn Getchman, a former employee of Fiserv. Under those provisions, a private party can file an action on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of the recovery.  The qui tam case is captioned United States ex rel. Deborah Lynn Getchman v. Fiserv, Inc. and Fiserv Solutions, LLC, Case No. 4:21-cv-00951 in U.S. District Court in St. Louis.  Getchman will receive $1,596,474 of the proceeds from the settlement.

“The United States Postal Service provides discounts to mailers who meet the certain standards of reducing the volume of mail that requires being forwarding or returned,” said Tammy Hull, U.S. Postal Service Inspector General. “Any company falsely claiming these discounts should know that we will pursue this fraud and bring them to justice. This case highlights the important role whistleblowers play in our work. We thank this whistleblower for coming forward and reporting these fraudulent activities.”

“We thank the whistleblower in this case and we encourage others who know of an individual or company defrauding the government to bring their concerns forward,” said U.S. Attorney Thomas C. Albus. “This settlement is an example of our important civil enforcement efforts where we work with whistleblowers to protect government funds.”  

This civil settlement was a result of the combined work of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri and the USPS Office of Inspector General Contract Fraud Investigation Division.

This press release was posted November 13, after the end of the federal government shutdown.