Malaysia Post Address Validation

“Pos Malaysia” was established in 1876 as Malaysia’s national postal system. With over 200 years of history, the postal group is now into dynamic mail and parcel services. It has access to over 11 million addresses nationwide and a network of more than 3,500 touchpoints. But how do they ensure the deliverability of mail and packages to these addresses? How do Malaysian businesses avoid misdeliveries, delays, and return mail? 

Malaysia Post address validation is vital to cross-check postal addresses against official records to support your mailing process, marketing campaigns, and location intelligence efforts. Can businesses expect proper tools to validate, standardize, cleanse, and parse high-volume address data with Malaysia Post? This blog will be the perfect read to help you know the situation of Malaysia Post address validation, how it works, its limitations, and the proper way to write Malaysian postal addresses.

Key Takeaways 

• Address validation is vital to check a Malaysian postal address’s legitimacy, deliverability, and formatting. 
• Pos Malaysia doesn’t provide any address validation solutions for individuals or businesses. 
• You can only rely on Pos Malaysia’s partners to fetch PIN codes for your addresses. 
• Malaysia Post gives you a real-time shipment tracking tool on its website. 
• Businesses can use their Post Office locator tool to locate the nearest outlet to access postal services. 
• Many villages, estates, and islands in Malaysia don’t have proper street addresses yet. 
• A standard Malaysian address comprises five lines with unique postal codes. 
• Malaysia Post doesn’t help you transliterate Malay words into English or vice versa when writing addresses.

The Address is Invalid or Incomplete 

Malaysian addresses are typically easy to write, and Pos Malaysia also provides guidelines for writing them in the correct order. However, some mistakes are inevitable, especially when sending mail or packages from another country. An invalid or incomplete address might confuse postal workers and lead to failure, delays, or returned mail. 

The Recipient has Moved to Another Location 

Obsolete addresses are one of the main reasons for failed deliveries. The recipient might be living at the address but has recently moved to another home. Businesses must regularly update their address databases to keep up with the move information and avoid misdeliveries. However, postal workers will not recognize this address change and will continue to attempt delivery to the obsolete address. 

Incorrect Postal Code 

Writing the correct postal code in the address is critical for helping Pos Malaysia sort and deliver mail accurately. Malaysia uses a five-digit postal code system to pinpoint a specific region, area, town, or district. Making mistakes in this code can send the mail or package to a completely different location. Postal workers also have a hard time rectifying such mistakes, leading to unexpected delivery delays. 

The Address is in a Rural Area 

The postal service might face challenges if the recipient lives in a rural area. Many villages, estates, and islands in Malaysia don’t have proper street addresses yet. To improve deliverability, people rely only on the recipient’s name and village when writing the complete postal address. Pos Malaysia recommends using P.O. Boxes to deliver mail to recipients from rural areas. 

The Recipient Was Absent at the Delivery Point 

It could be the most unfortunate event when the recipient is absent at the address while postal workers attempt to deliver mail. Pos Malaysia leaves a notice if you are using their Express, Normal Registered, or P.O. Box delivery service. However, this problem can also happen if the recipient has moved to a new location and you still use their old address. Malaysians are required to register a change of address request at the National Registration Department. They can also temporarily use mail redirection services until they officially update their address.

 Also Read: Best International Address Verification Services

• Abbreviations: Malaysia Post uses various abbreviations for different address-related elements, including “P.O.” for post office box, “Jln.” for Jalan (Street in Malay), and “No.” for number. 
• Language: Malay is the official language of Malaysia and is standard for writing domestic mail. English is acceptable for international mail. 
• Alignment: All Malaysian addresses are left-aligned to help postal processing and ease of reading. 
• Postal Codes: Malaysia uses a five-digit postal code system, where the first two digits represent the region and the last three tell about a specific area, town, or delivery point. 
• Complex Rural Addressing: Some Kampung (villages) in Malaysia and islands don’t have clear street addresses and might use the recipient’s name instead. 

 Also Read: How Does Pos Indonesia Address Validation Work

A standard Malaysian address comprises five lines. You can begin by writing the recipient’s full name in the first line with the necessary titles. Next, provide the building number and street name, separating them without using any punctuation. Malaysian street names can have numbers and fractions as well. 

The following line mentions the local area. It could be anything from a small town to a part of a city to a village name. Then, you must add the complete postal code followed by the city name without punctuation. P.O. Boxes, government buildings, and large companies might have their own postal codes. Use the last line to write “MYS” as a short form of Malaysia for international mail. 

Here is what the format should look like: 

Your sample address would look like this: 

No Official Provisions for Address Validation

Pos Malaysia doesn’t provide address validation solutions to help individuals or businesses validate their addresses for better deliverability. The delivery will likely fail or result in delays if you make mistakes while writing the Malaysian address. Global companies operating in Malaysia often use a comprehensive third-party validation solution to check their address database against official records. It saves the day by pointing out incorrect or incomplete addresses before dispatching any mail or package for delivery. 

Lack of Address Standardization Tools 

Inconsistencies in the address can compromise a mail or package’s deliverability. There’s a proper order and abbreviations that you must use when writing Malaysian addresses. Pos Malaysia doesn’t provide any solutions to fix such inconsistencies in postal addresses, leading to confusion among postal workers and delays. 

No Geocoding Data 

Businesses need more than a plain postal address to amplify their location intelligence efforts. Geocoding data, such as longitude and latitude, helps us pinpoint addresses on a map. However, you cannot expect such capabilities while relying on Pos Malaysia. It doesn’t give you any idea about the neighborhood or other geographic aspects. Therefore, businesses might need third-party alternatives to fetch geocoding data for Malaysian addresses. 

Businesses Can’t Run Bulk Address Validation Workflows 

No business can rely on a postcode-finder tool to run bulk address validation workflows. It is unscalable and cannot support high-volume address validation. Validating addresses in bulk always saves time, cost, and effort. 

Transliteration Issues 

Malaysia Post address validation doesn’t help you transliterate Malay words into English or vice versa. This could be problematic since some addresses mix Malay and English. Bahasa Malaysia must be your constant language for every domestic mail you send. Businesses often look for third-party solutions to translate Romanized addresses into their native language.

No Provisions for Secondary Address Data 

As a developing country, Malaysia has many high-rises and condominiums with hundreds of delivery points. To improve deliverability and avoid misdeliveries, senders must include unit indicators in the Malaysian addresses. However, Pos Malaysia doesn’t provide premise-level data to enrich addresses with unit indicators for floor, unit, building, etc. Delivering mail in a densely populated neighborhood often challenges delivery workers. 

Malaysia Post Address Validation Alternative 

As you’ve read, Malaysia Post doesn’t publicly provide an address validation solution. You can only use some third-party solutions to fetch postcodes for your addresses. With no validation tool, businesses often have difficulty delivering mail to the correct location in Malaysia. You can’t expect to do any commercial validation tasks to standardize, verify, or autocomplete your address data. 

PostGrid’s Address Validation API could be a scalable, reliable, and accurate alternative to Pos Malaysia. It suits businesses looking to validate, standardize, and cleanse high-volume Malaysian addresses. The solution also provides native integrations for CRMs, ERPs, marketing automation tools, websites, and mobile applications to help firms create custom workflows, saving time and manual work. You can also expect geographical coordinates and premise-level data to enrich your postal addresses. Our solution provides flexible pricing plans and scales according to your unique needs. 

Request a demo now to see how our solution validates Malaysian addresses in real-time.