The right formatting, street, city, and postal code information, with the help of address validation increases your chances of a successful mail delivery. Incorrect address information can lead to returned mail and increased shipping costs. You can verify postal address information before sending packages or letters to improve successful deliveries and lower overall shipping costs.
In the U.S., residential addresses follow this format:
[Recipient]
[House or building number] [Street name]
[Secondary address information]
[City] [State]
[ZIP code]
For example, a personal home address in the U.S. could be:
Ms. Sarah Jane Smith
11 Torchwood Street
Apt 4
New York City, New York
11377
For international addresses, each country has their own preferred formats and standards for how addresses are written. In the U.K., for instance, residential addresses follow this format:
[Recipient]
[Building name; not all addresses have this]
[Street name]
[Postal town/Town/City]
[County; not needed]
[Postal code]
[Country name]
An example could be:
Mr. Mickey Smith
1 Cardiff Way
Abbots Langley
WD5 0TT
United Kingdom
Although there are standard formats for each country, addresses can be written in any number of ways. The country you’re in and the country you’re mailing to, for example, can change how you write an address. You might also get a different format depending on where you got the address, such as a business card, postal authority, or email signature. If you received the address years ago, the format may be outdated. Any of these factors could cause your deliveries to be delayed—or worse, returned to you.
Validating addresses before sending is the best way to make sure your contact list is up-to-date, accurate, and formatted correctly.
Postal address verification from Experian
At Experian, we use the latest address data to help you clean your address lists and keep them up to date. Our software identifies issues—like incorrect formatting—and fixes them so your mail and packages get to your customers the first time.
How can I verify addresses?
There are two easy ways to verify address data in your contact lists. The first is to use a USPS® address verification tool. These tools can verify both US-based addresses as well as international addresses in batches. The second method is to use an address validation API. This technical tool connects to your website, application, or other technology to validate addresses in real time.
1) Use a USPS® address verification tool
In order to make sure you have the most up-to-date and complete address data, address verification providers partner with the United States Postal Service (USPS®) for U.S. addresses. To verify international mailing address data, the USPS® partners with regional postal authorities to make sure that addresses adhere to the correct formats for those countries.
Experian address verification identifies, corrects, and formats addresses. It also completes any missing address elements. You can use this type of address verification solution for a variety of situations.
List processing services like batch address validation from Experian make it easy to quickly verify a list of addresses. The process works by flagging inaccurate addresses in your list. The service then corrects mistakes in the flagged addresses. You’ll also get a detailed breakdown of your addresses so you can see which are ready to get mail and which need attention.
You might use a list processing service to check addresses for an alumni reunion or corporate event. List processing is also an important step in marketing communications that can help save time and money.
2) Use an address verification API
An address verification API is a more technical solution than list processing. Your API still uses datasets from the USPS® and other regional postal authorities to make sure the most up-to-date address information is leveraged. However, it can be integrated into your existing technical environments for real-time address data management.
By adding an API to your website or application, you can automatically verify addresses as they come in. This reduces human errors and eliminates inaccuracies before they reach your contact list.
Think of real-time validation as a long-term solution to managing addresses. Instead of checking address lists in batches, you know your addresses are coming into your database clean and ready to go.
Address verification APIs can be integrated into web forms, CRMs, and internal applications—almost anywhere you collect address data—to capture verified postal addresses. If your business has had problems with incorrect address data in the past, an API can help you manage incoming addresses proactively.
Using a USPS® verification tool or address verification API helps guarantee your deliveries get sent to the right place—whether you’re mailing corporate event invitations, tax documents, or customer orders.
Ready to see how Experian’s data quality experts can help you clean and verify your address lists?
