Verifying USPS addresses is important to aid the operations of e-commerce companies and other digital business frameworks that involve the delivery of products.
This ensures that the addresses are valid and mail can be delivered. USPS address verification can also help counter identity fraud or any financial crime that may involve misrepresenting an address or the use of a fake address.
USPS address verification thwarts fraud even before it happens. In this article, we will discuss what USPS Address verification is, the benefits and drawbacks of USPS address verification and how to choose the right option for you.
What is USPS Address Verification?
USPS Address Verification is a service provided by the United States Postal Service to make sure that addresses entered into databases are valid or accurate and correctly formatted according to postal standards. This process aids individuals and businesses in reducing issues like delayed or undeliverable mail by verifying that addresses exist and are reachable by USPS. The verification can correct formatting errors, missing apartment numbers, or ZIP codes, and it typically involves cross-referencing with the USPS Address Management System (AMS), which is often updated.
For businesses wondering how to verify an address, USPS provides different tools, including the USPS address validator and APIs that businesses can integrate into their platforms. These solutions also work with a USPS standard address format checker, ensuring that data is accurate and consistent across systems.
Address verification is often used by businesses to maintain clean and accurate customer databases, tackle fraud, save on shipping costs, and improve customer satisfaction.
USPS address verification services are available through RegTech tools, APIs, and certain shipping platforms that integrate USPS verification directly into their systems.
Read Also: What is Address Verification Service
How Does USPS Address Validation Compare to Third-Party Solutions?
When considering address validation, it’s helpful to understand how USPS’s own tools stack up against third-party alternatives like Smarty, Melissa, or Experian. While USPS address verification is reliable for confirming mailing addresses within the United States, there are a few distinctions worth noting if your business needs reach further or require greater flexibility.
1. Coverage Limitations:
USPS address validation is strictly limited to addresses within the U.S. If your operations extend internationally or you anticipate future expansion, you’ll likely need to turn to third-party providers that handle global address verification across hundreds of countries.
2. Breadth of Features
USPS focuses on core address validation functions—confirming accuracy and deliverability, correcting formatting errors, and standardizing entries. In contrast, many third-party platforms offer robust features, including:
- Geocoding and mapping information
- Real-time address suggestions as customers type
- Email and phone number verification
- Bulk processing at high speeds
3. User Experience & Integration:
Setting up and integrating USPS’s address verification API may require technical know-how, and documentation isn’t always beginner-friendly. Third-party tools often come with intuitive interfaces, richer documentation, and streamlined onboarding, making them more accessible to teams without specialized IT support.
4. Customization and Flexibility:
For businesses needing tailored address formatting or integration with unique workflows, third-party services typically offer higher flexibility and customization options compared to USPS’s more standardized approach.
5. Enhanced Data and Support:
Third-party providers often include extra data enrichment features such as property details, business profiles, and demographic information that can help you build richer customer profiles. There's also an advantage in customer support, with options like phone, email, or live chat—areas where USPS tools are more limited.
6. Performance at Scale:
If your business needs to process thousands of addresses per second, bulk validation performance may be a deciding factor. Many third-party platforms are engineered to handle high volume validations at significantly faster speeds than USPS’s infrastructure allows.
In short, while USPS offers a trustworthy foundation for verifying U.S. Addresses, businesses looking for international coverage, advanced features, customization, or higher throughput often choose third-party address validation services to meet their growing and evolving needs.
What are the Benefits Of USPS Address Verification?
The United States Postal Service is a standard database of valid addresses throughout the country. USPS verification address tools get or generate data from the USPS address verification database.
It is important to confirm the nature of an address submitted during the onboarding process or to the USPS address verification form by a customer to avoid discrepancies that can hinder operations or delivery or allow for the occurrence of fraud. The benefits of USPS address verification are mentioned and discussed below:
1. USPS Address Verification Provides for Accurate Deliveries
USPS Address Verification affirms that addresses are valid, complete, and standardised. This allows businesses to be able to avoid costly delivery errors and ensures timely delivery of packages.
2. It Allows for Enhanced Customer Satisfaction
With the provision or confirmation of accurate or verified addresses, companies are able to offer better delivery experiences to customers and help reduce missed or delayed shipments. This, in turn, helps build trust and improves customer loyalty.
3. USPS Address Verification Helps To Save Cost
USPS Address Verification reduces undeliverable packages and returns, saving businesses on shipping costs, labor, and processing fees. Lesser errors also mean that fewer resources are spent on customer support for delivery issues.
4. USPS Address Verification Prevents Fraud
USPS Address Verification helps mitigate fraud by spotting invalid or suspicious addresses that would be used in the process of identity theft, credit card fraud, or other financial crimes. Verifying addresses during onboarding adds a security layer, particularly for e-commerce, banking, and digital services.
5. It Ensures Data Integrity and Clean Databases
Frequent address verification allows for companies to keep up-to-date customer databases; it reduces data decay and ensures that contact information is current and correct. Clean data supports effective marketing and customer engagement efforts.
6. It Aids Regulatory Compliance
For businesses in regulated industries, USPS Address Verification can help meet compliance requirements by validating customer information and maintaining accurate records.
USPS Address Verification services are accessible through APIs and RegTech tools, as well as shipping platforms, making them to be easily integrated into customer-facing and back-office applications.
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What are the Drawbacks or Limitations of USPS Address Validation?
While USPS Address Verification offers many advantages, it is very important to also mention its limitations to make an informed choice for your business needs.
The cons of USPS address verification include:
1. US-Only Scope:
One main limitation is that USPS Address Verification exclusively covers addresses within the United States. Businesses with international reach will need to explore additional address verification solutions for non-US locations.
2. Basic Functionality:
The USPS address verification tool focuses on validating the accuracy and deliverability of addresses, but does not offer more advanced features such as geocoding, enriched data, or predictive suggestions during data entry, that some modern address validation tools provide.
3. Technical Setup & Usability:
Integrating USPS Address Verification, especially via APIs, can require more technical expertise. The user interface may not be as intuitive as some third-party platforms, potentially making initial setup and ongoing use more challenging for teams without dedicated technical resources.
4. Limited Customisation:
Custom formatting, integration with unique workflows, and tailored solutions are not the strengths of USPS Address Verification. Those seeking flexibility may find it restrictive compared to more configurable services.
5. No Additional Data Enrichment:
USPS Address Verification does not supply supplementary data, such as demographic information, property details, or business attributes that could enhance customer profiles for marketing or operations.
6. Potential Performance Issues at Scale:
For organizations needing to verify large volumes of addresses simultaneously, there can be latency or slowdowns, impacting operational efficiency during high-throughput periods.
By weighing these considerations against your organisation’s requirements, you’ll be better positioned to select an address verification service that best aligns with your business goals.
Best Practices For USPS Address Verification For Fintechs And E-commerce
To fully maximize the benefits of USPS Address Verification and ensure accurate, efficient operations, concerned entities should consider the following best practices:
1. The Use of Real-Time Address Verification Tools
Address verification should be implemented at the point of data entry. During customer sign-up or checkout. Real-time verification flags errors immediately, allows customers to correct any issues on the spot, and ensures that only accurate addresses go into the company’s system.
2. Batch Verification for Database Clean-Up Should Be Implemented
Verify addresses in the already existing database regularly using batch verification. This process updates outdated or incorrect addresses, helps maintain data integrity, and removes undeliverable addresses, which is important for customer retention and accurate marketing efforts.
3. Addresses Should Be Standardised to USPS Format
It should be ensured that all addresses are formatted according to USPS standards (for example, abbreviations and casing) in order to improve consistency. Using a USPS standard address format checker helps streamline this process. Standardized addresses improve processing efficiency and lessen the likelihood of delivery errors.
4. Validate International Addresses Separately
USPS address verification is for addresses in the United States. However, to maintain accuracy for international shipments, a service that validates or authenticates global addresses should be used to validate the addresses of international customers.
5. Integrate USPS APIs for Seamless Verification
USPS Address Verification APIs should be integrated into e-commerce platforms, CRMs, and shipping systems to automate verification. This integration allows for a seamless user experience and reduces manual data handling.
6. Screening for Address Completeness
It should be confirmed that required fields like apartment numbers and ZIP+4 codes, as well as secondary addresses, are provided by the customer or filled in.
Incomplete addresses can lead to mail that cannot be delivered, and this can lead to higher shipping costs.
7. Run Verification During Key Customer Interactions
Addresses should be verified not only during initial entry but also during account updates, checkout, and periodically for long-term customers. This keeps addresses updated and reduces or mitigates shipping issues like customers moving away from an initially provided address or the use of alternative addresses.
8. Monitoring and Tracking Delivery Performance
Track and analyze undeliverable mail rates or address errors to identify any issues with data quality or verification settings. Adjust your verification processes as needed to minimize errors.
9. The Education of Customers on Proper Address Entry
Provide guidance or address suggestions during checkout in order to help customers enter correct addresses. Tools like address autocomplete, the USPS address validator, or suggested corrections can make this process smoother.
Read Also; Digital Address Verification
USPS Postal Address Verification Tools?
For businesses seeking how to verify address, when using a USPS address verification tool online, it is important to ensure that it provides real-time verification and has a USPS address verification database to ensure satisfactory results and an array of false positives. Youverify’s address verification tool draws from numerous standard address databases from around the world. It can effectively perform USPS address verification and can also be easily switched to be used for international address verification screenings.
Youverify’s address verification solution can help e-commerce companies and digital businesses manually verify customer addresses anywhere globally with a zero error margin. The solution improves customer drop-off rates and scales with ease.
Get started with easy USPS postal address verification online with Youverify, or book a free demo.