Coupon Distribution Verification Service

Why Participate in CDVS?

1. Industry Established Guidelines

Provides coupon manufacturers, coupon suppliers and newspapers with a yard stick to measure the effectiveness of the newspaper's security procedures. Before the CDVS, there were no guidelines.

2. Coupon Audits

Provides CDVS members with a detailed account of the procedures in place at the newspaper and states whether or not the newspaper is in compliance with the Industry Established Guidelines. Ever year a bound volume containing the coupon audits on all current CDVS newspaper members is distributed to CDVS members. Prorating the average manufacturer dues by the total number of CDVS newspapers translates into $16 per coupon audit. That translates into 30 cents per week for newspapers such as the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times—newspapers that carry hundreds of thousands of dollars of your coupons every week.

3. Manufacturers' Participation in the CDVS Encourages Newspapers to Invest in Coupon Security

Because of manufacturer participation, CDVS newspapers have invested thousands of dollars into such items as: shredders, secure storage areas, plant security systems, and the personnel to monitor newspaper returns to ensure they contain coupons. Before CDVS was created, the security of manufacturers' coupons at newspaper plants was virtually non-existent.

4. Manufacturers' Participation Encourages Newspaper Participation

Without your participation there is no reason for newspapers to undergo a coupon audit. In fact, to newspapers, CDVS is an expense, not only in terms of audit hours, but also in terms of the investment that must be made in personnel and equipment to adhere to the Industry Established Guidelines. CDVS is a voluntary program. The current CDVS newspapers have a combined Sunday circulation in excess of 30 million. However, there are an additional 350 newspapers with combined Sunday circulation of over 20 million who do not participate in CDVS. Only with manufacturer support will these newspapers join CDVS.

5. CDVS Has Created an Ongoing Awareness Among Newspapers on the Importance of Coupon Security

Participation in CDVS puts the people most familiar with a market—the newspaper—on alert for unusual occurrences. Newspapers are in a unique position to be the eyes and ears of coupon manufacturers in every town in the United States and Canada.

6. The Cost to Subscribe to CDVS is Insignificant Compared to the Cost of Misredemption

Just one percent of the loss in the "Detroit Case" alone would pay most manufacturers dues for over 250 years. CDVS is like a bank's security system—it is designed to prevent misredemption before it occurs. CDVS members believe more than one "Detroit Case" has been prevented by newspapers participating in CDVS.