Postcoding times

Postcodes, they’ve been drifting around New Zealand since 1977, yet to the majority of us, they remain largely unknown and optional entities.  However, the times, they are changing….namely out of necessity.

New Zealand is growing and the geographical spread of delivery points has meant New Zealand Post (NZ Post) has had to introduce significant changes to the way mail is processed.  These changes will further automate delivery processes within the national network to cope with the increased mail demands.

The first of these changes took effect in June 2006, with the introduction of a new postcode system, completely replacing the previous suite of numbers.  

NZ Post has also developed an address accuracy programme, SendRight™, which is designed to improve the accuracy of addresses and the performance mail.

The programme involves the use of address validation software that compares customers’ addresses to the New Zealand Post Postal Address File (PAF).

To continue to qualify for bulk mailing discounts, organisations are required to update their database with the new postcodes and SendRight address standards by the 1st of July 2008.   A new address quality measure has been introduced - Statement of Accuracy (SOA)- that will be required for bulk mail lodgements after this period.

The implications of these changes are significant – particularly for not-for-profit organisations who undertake direct mail fundraising campaigns and have to maximise the value of the charitable dollar.  Failure to update database records by the 1st July 2008 will result in substantial increases in mailing costs.

As a NZ Post partner, Datamine has access to the new postcodes and can easily append them to existing or new databases without disrupting business.

Additionally, Datamine can clean and format the data and update the names and addresses of people who have moved, using the New Zealand Post change of address service.  Datamine will be SendRight certified to administer Statements of Accuracy, ensuring that all bulk mail lodgements will be eligible for discounts.