Why You Need International Address Verification

The United States has a fairly organized postal system, but that’s not true for all countries. International addresses can be confusing for both users and businesses, especially when it comes to formatting. Unlike the US, there is no overarching authority that determines foreign address formats. Instead, each country has its own unique standards that vary by region.

This means a single address may have different formatting in France than it does in Germany or Japan. Additionally, many countries use different alphabets, making it challenging to identify typos or errors during data entry.

Despite these challenges, a global address verification process is critical for businesses that want to optimize their data quality and improve customer engagement. Without it, fraudsters can use inaccurate addresses to create fake accounts or commit identity theft. It also helps to reduce customer frustration and increase brand trust by ensuring that the addresses provided are valid and accurate.

Fortunately, using an international address validation API to look up, validate and standardize addresses is simple. Smarty offers a freeform address box that allows you to input any type of international address and then select the country from which you’d like to verify it. It then automatically looks up the address, validates it for that country’s format and translates it into English. Watch the video below to learn how to use it.