Description

The total number of verification cases created across all statuses. Includes active, completed, failed, and expired cases.

Impact

Tracks overall verification volume and platform adoption. Spikes may indicate batch uploads or new client onboarding.

Example

Displayed as a number, e.g. "247". Includes all cases regardless of status (active, completed, failed, expired).

Benchmark

Typical tenants process 50-500 cases/month depending on plan.

Description

Cases that have reached the COMPLETE terminal state — all required verification layers passed successfully.

Impact

Directly measures successful verifications. A low completed count relative to total cases suggests drop-off in the verification funnel.

Example

Displayed as a number, e.g. "189". Only counts cases with status = COMPLETE.

Benchmark

Healthy completion rates are 70-85% of total cases.

Formula

Count of cases where status = COMPLETE

Description

Cases where a postal letter has been dispatched but not yet delivered or verified. Status is POSTAL_DISPATCHED.

Impact

High in-transit counts may indicate postal delays or delivery issues in certain regions.

Example

Displayed as a number, e.g. "34". Counts cases with status = POSTAL_DISPATCHED.

Benchmark

UK letters: 1-3 business days. EU/US: 3-7 business days.

Description

Percentage of cases that reached COMPLETE status out of all cases that have reached a terminal state (COMPLETE, FAILED, or EXPIRED).

Impact

The primary health metric for your verification process. Low success rates may indicate issues with subject engagement, postal delivery, or bundle configuration.

Example

Displayed as a percentage, e.g. "82.5%". If 165 of 200 terminal cases completed, rate = 82.5%.

Benchmark

75-90% is healthy. Below 60% warrants investigation.

Formula

COMPLETE / (COMPLETE + FAILED + EXPIRED) x 100

Description

Initial state when a case is first created. No verification actions have been taken yet.

Impact

Cases should move out of CREATED quickly. A backlog here means digital verification or letter dispatch is delayed.

Example

Input: Subject name "Jane Smith", address "12 Baker Street, London, NW1 6XE, GB", email "jane@example.com". Output: Case created with status CREATED.

Description

Email and/or SMS OTP has been sent to the subject. Waiting for them to enter the code.

Impact

Long dwell times suggest the subject did not receive the OTP or is not engaging.

Example

Email OTP sent: "A3K9X2MF" (8 characters). SMS OTP sent: "482917" (6 digits). Subject enters the code on the verification page.

Benchmark

Most digital verifications complete within 5 minutes of sending.

Description

Subject has successfully entered the correct email/SMS OTP. Digital layer is complete.

Impact

If the bundle includes postal verification, the case will transition to POSTAL_DISPATCHED next.

Example

Subject entered "A3K9X2MF" correctly. Status transitions from DIGITAL_PENDING to DIGITAL_VERIFIED.

Description

A physical letter with a unique 10-character OTP and QR code has been printed and dispatched via the postal provider.

Impact

Delivery tracking is available for UK and US/Canada (tracked delivery).

Example

Letter dispatched with postal OTP "K7M2X9P4LR" (10 characters) and QR code linking to verification URL. Tracking reference: "TRK12345678".

Benchmark

UK: 1-3 days. EU/US: 3-7 days.

Description

Letter has been confirmed delivered (via tracking) but the subject has not yet entered the postal OTP.

Impact

The subject has the letter but has not acted. A reminder may help.

Example

Tracking shows "Delivered" on 2026-02-20. Subject has not yet entered OTP "K7M2X9P4LR". Reminder email scheduled.

Description

Subject has entered the correct postal OTP. Physical address possession is confirmed.

Impact

The case will now transition to COMPLETE (assuming all required layers are verified).

Example

Subject entered "K7M2X9P4LR" correctly via QR scan or manual entry. Address possession confirmed.

Description

All required verification layers have been successfully completed. Evidence pack is sealed with SHA-256 hash chain.

Impact

Terminal state. The evidence pack is now available for download and webhook delivery.

Example

Case completed with assurance level "Verified (Digital + Postal)". Evidence pack PDF available for download. Webhook "case.completed" fired.

Description

Case failed due to max OTP attempts exceeded, fraud detection, or manual rejection by a caseworker.

Impact

Terminal state. Review the case timeline for the specific failure reason.

Example

Reason: "Max OTP attempts exceeded (5/5 for postal layer)". Or: "Caseworker rejected — ghost address confirmed".

Description

Case exceeded its time-to-live (TTL) without completing all required verification layers.

Impact

Terminal state. The subject did not complete verification within the allowed window.

Example

Case created 2026-01-15 with 30-day TTL. Expired on 2026-02-14 with status stuck at POSTAL_PENDING.

Benchmark

Default TTL is 30 days. Adjust per bundle if needed.

Description

Shows exactly which verification layers were completed for a case. Each layer is listed individually: Email, SMS, Postal, and Geo. For example, "Email + SMS + Postal" means all three channels were verified.

Impact

More layers = stronger assurance. Cases including Postal prove physical address possession. Cases including Geo prove physical presence at the address during verification.

Example

"Email + Postal": email OTP + postal letter verified. "Email + SMS + Postal + Geo": all four layers verified — maximum assurance.

Benchmark

Regulated industries (law, finance, accountancy) typically require at least Email + Postal.

Description

Composite fraud risk score from 0-100 calculated at case creation. Higher scores indicate greater risk.

Impact

Determines whether risk-based step-up is triggered. Cases above the threshold are automatically escalated from digital to postal verification.

Example

Score 15: Low risk (no signals). Score 45: Medium (disposable email detected). Score 75: High (ghost address + velocity + disposable email).

Benchmark

0-30: Low risk. 30-60: Medium risk. 60+: High risk (step-up likely).

Formula

Weighted sum of individual risk signals (disposable email, ghost address, address velocity, etc.)

Description

The overall verification confidence score (0-100%) assigned when a case completes. Combines results from all verification layers: email OTP, SMS OTP, geolocation proximity, postal letter redemption, and address quality checks.

Impact

Higher scores indicate stronger proof of address. This score decays over time (see Reverification). Cases with low strength may warrant additional verification.

Example

Score 83%: Strong (postal + digital + geo all passed). Score 68%: Good (postal + digital passed, no geo). Score 35%: Weak (digital only, partial checks).

Benchmark

70-100%: Strong verification. 40-69%: Moderate. Below 40%: Weak — consider re-verification.

Formula

Sum of layer scores: Email (10), SMS (10), Geo proximity (up to 20), Postal (25), Address quality (up to 15), minus penalties for risk signals.

Description

Detected when the subject email address belongs to a known disposable/temporary email provider (e.g. Guerrilla Mail, Tempail).

Impact

Strong fraud indicator. Disposable emails cannot receive follow-up communications and suggest intent to avoid accountability.

Example

Input email: "user@guerrillamail.com" or "temp@throwaway.email". Signal triggers: Disposable Email = true, +25 risk points.

Description

Address matches a known mail forwarding service, virtual office, PO box farm, or serviced office address.

Impact

The subject may not physically reside or operate at this address. Letters will be received but do not prove actual occupancy.

Example

Input address: "71-75 Shelton Street, London, WC2H 9JQ" (known virtual office). Signal triggers: Ghost Address = true.

Description

Address is associated with a mail forwarding or redirection service (e.g. postal redirection service, PO Box).

Impact

Mail forwarding means the letter could be received at a different physical location than the claimed address.

Example

Input address: "PO Box 4521, Manchester, M60 3AT" or an address with an active postal redirect. Signal: Mail Forwarding = true.

Description

Multiple cases for different subjects have been submitted with the same address within a rolling time window.

Impact

Could indicate a legitimate shared address (e.g. office building) or a fraud pattern where one address is used for multiple fake identities.

Example

5 different subjects verified at "42 High Street, Bristol, BS1 2AW" in the past 7 days. Velocity signal triggered.

Benchmark

1-2 cases per address per month is normal. 5+ within a week is suspicious.

Description

The same address has appeared in verification cases across different tenants on the platform.

Impact

May indicate an address being used to fraudulently verify across multiple regulated firms simultaneously.

Example

"10 Downing Street, London" verified by 3 different tenants in the past 30 days. Cross-tenant signal raised (tenant names anonymised).

Description

The IP address used during digital verification geolocates to a region significantly different from the claimed postal address.

Impact

May indicate the subject is not near the claimed address. However, VPN usage can produce false positives.

Example

Claimed address: London, UK. Verification IP: 203.0.113.45 (geolocated to Lagos, Nigeria). Mismatch distance: 4,900 km.

Description

Automatic escalation from a digital-only verification bundle to include postal verification, triggered when the risk score exceeds the configured threshold.

Impact

Ensures high-risk cases get physical address verification even when the original bundle was digital-only.

Example

Case created with "Basic" bundle (email only). Risk score = 72 (above threshold 60). Postal layer automatically added. Step-Up badge shown.

Benchmark

Default step-up threshold is 60 (configurable per tenant).

Description

Sends an 8-character OTP code to the subject's email address for verification.

Impact

Fast digital verification — most subjects complete within minutes. Validates email ownership but not physical address.

Example

Input: subject email "jane.smith@lawfirm.co.uk". Output: OTP "A3K9X2MF" sent via configured email template.

Benchmark

Delivery rate: 98%+ for legitimate email addresses. Completion rate: 85-95%.

Description

Sends a 6-digit OTP code via SMS to the subject's mobile number.

Impact

Validates phone number ownership. Higher engagement than email due to push notification.

Example

Input: subject phone "+44 7700 900123". Output: SMS with OTP "482917" sent. Subject enters code on verification page.

Benchmark

Delivery rate: 95-99% depending on carrier. Completion rate: 90%+.

Description

Dispatches a physical letter with a unique 10-character OTP and QR code to the subject's claimed address.

Impact

The core Postal.id verification — proves physical possession of the address. Unfakeable by digital means.

Example

Input: "12 Baker Street, London, NW1 6XE". Letter printed with OTP "K7M2X9P4LR" + QR code. Dispatched via tracked post.

Benchmark

UK delivery: 1-3 days. Completion rate: 70-85% (dependent on subject engagement).

Description

Captures GPS coordinates from the subject's device at the time of OTP entry. Compares with the claimed address location.

Impact

Adds a physical presence confirmation. The subject must be near the claimed address when entering the postal OTP.

Example

Claimed address: 51.5074, -0.1278 (London). Subject GPS: 51.5081, -0.1290 (0.15 km away). Within 1 km radius: PASS.

Description

Maximum number of days allowed for the subject to complete all required verification layers before the case expires.

Impact

Shorter TTLs create urgency but increase expiry rates. Longer TTLs are more lenient but delay case resolution.

Example

Input: 30 (days). Case created 2026-02-01 will expire 2026-03-03 if not completed. Enter 7-60 depending on use case.

Benchmark

Default: 30 days. For urgent verifications, 7-14 days. For international postal, 45-60 days.

Description

Maximum number of OTP entry attempts allowed per verification layer before the case is marked as failed.

Impact

Prevents brute-force OTP guessing. Too few attempts frustrate legitimate subjects; too many weaken security.

Example

Input: 5. Subject enters wrong OTP 5 times → case fails. Enter 3-10 (recommended: 5 for standard, 3 for high security).

Benchmark

Default: 5 attempts. Security-sensitive: 3 attempts.

Formula

After max attempts exhausted → case status transitions to FAILED.

Description

The postal format used for dispatching verification letters. Options depend on the provider and destination country.

Impact

Different formats have different costs, delivery speeds, and tracking capabilities.

Example

Options: "standard" (cheapest, no tracking), "tracked" (mid-range, delivery confirmation), "certified" (signature required).

Description

Each verification layer in a bundle can be marked as required or optional. Required layers must be completed; optional layers enhance assurance if completed.

Impact

Required layers determine the minimum assurance level. Optional layers provide additional confidence without blocking completion.

Example

Bundle config: Email = Required, SMS = Optional, Postal = Required, Geo = Optional. Subject must complete email + postal; SMS and geo are bonus.

Description

Percentage of dispatched letters that were successfully delivered to the destination address.

Impact

Low delivery rates may indicate address quality issues, incorrect postcodes, or regional postal problems.

Example

96 of 100 letters delivered = 96% delivery rate. Displayed as a percentage on the postal metrics card.

Benchmark

UK: 98%+. EU: 95-98%. US: 97%+.

Formula

Delivered / Dispatched x 100

Description

Percentage of dispatched letters returned to sender (RTS) by the postal service.

Impact

High return rates indicate invalid addresses, subjects who have moved, or incorrect address formatting.

Example

3 of 100 letters returned = 3% return rate. Common reasons: "addressee gone away", "insufficient address".

Benchmark

Healthy: below 3%. Above 5% warrants address validation review.

Formula

Returned / Dispatched x 100

Description

Average number of business days between letter dispatch and confirmed delivery (where tracking is available).

Impact

Helps set realistic TTL values and subject expectations.

Example

Displayed as "1.8 days" for UK, "4.2 days" for EU. Based on tracked deliveries in your recent cases.

Benchmark

UK: 1.5 days. EU: 4-5 days. US: 3-4 days.

Description

Percentage of postal verifications completed by scanning the QR code on the letter versus manually typing the OTP.

Impact

Higher QR scan rates indicate good subject experience — scanning is faster and less error-prone.

Example

55 of 100 postal verifications used QR scan = 55%. Remaining 45% typed the 10-character OTP manually.

Benchmark

Typical: 40-60% use QR scanning.

Description

Alert triggered when an address receives more verification cases than the configured threshold within a time window.

Impact

May indicate legitimate shared occupancy or potential fraud via address reuse.

Example

Alert: "42 High Street, Bristol" — 5 cases in 7 days (threshold: 3 per 30 days). Investigate shared office or fraud.

Benchmark

Default threshold: 3 cases per address per 30 days.

Description

Alert triggered when the same address is being verified across multiple different tenants on the platform.

Impact

Could indicate a professional fraud attempt spanning multiple regulated firms.

Example

Alert: "10 Downing Street, London" appears in 3 different tenants within 30 days. Other tenant names are anonymised.

Description

Numerical severity score assigned to each address alert based on the type and frequency of signals detected.

Impact

Higher scores warrant more urgent investigation. Used for prioritising the alert queue.

Example

Score 15 (low): single velocity signal. Score 45 (medium): velocity + ghost address. Score 80 (high): cross-tenant + velocity + forwarding.

Benchmark

1-30: Low priority. 30-60: Medium. 60+: High priority — investigate immediately.

Description

Mark an alert as reviewed after investigation. Acknowledged alerts are moved out of the active queue.

Impact

Helps team members track which alerts have been investigated versus which need attention.

Example

Click "Acknowledge" on an alert → add a note like "Confirmed shared office building, legitimate usage". Alert moves to resolved queue.

Description

Real-time HTTP POST notifications sent to your configured endpoint when case status changes occur.

Impact

Enables automated workflows — update your CRM, trigger follow-up actions, or sync verification status with your systems.

Example

Events: case.created, case.digital_verified, case.postal_dispatched, case.postal_verified, case.completed, case.failed, case.expired, letter.dispatched, letter.delivered

Description

Every webhook request includes an X-Postal-Id-Signature header containing an HMAC-SHA256 hash of the request body using your webhook secret.

Impact

Verify this signature before processing to ensure the webhook came from Postal.id and was not tampered with.

Example

Header: "X-Postal-Id-Signature: sha256=a1b2c3d4e5...". Verify by computing HMAC-SHA256(your_secret, raw_body) and comparing.

Formula

HMAC-SHA256(webhook_secret, request_body)

Description

Failed webhook deliveries (non-2xx response or timeout) are retried with exponential backoff up to 5 attempts.

Impact

Ensures temporary outages on your side do not cause missed events.

Example

Retry delays: ~30s, ~2min, ~8min, ~30min, ~2hr (exponential backoff with jitter)

Description

Maximum number of verification cases included in your current subscription plan per billing period.

Impact

Cases beyond the plan limit may incur overage charges or be blocked depending on your plan settings.

Example

Performance plan: "87 / 100 cases used this period". At 100, new case creation may be blocked until next period.

Benchmark

Essential: 25/month. Performance: 100/month. Enterprise: unlimited.

Description

The current billing cycle during which verification cases are counted against your plan limit.

Impact

Case counts reset at the start of each billing period.

Example

Displayed as "1 Feb 2026 — 28 Feb 2026". Cases created within this window count toward the limit.

Description

Current state of your subscription: active, past_due, cancelled, or trialing.

Impact

Verification capabilities may be restricted for past_due or cancelled plans.

Example

Values: "active" (normal), "trialing" (free trial), "past_due" (payment failed), "cancelled" (subscription ended).

Description

Visual breakdown of cases at each stage of the verification lifecycle, showing where subjects progress and where they drop off.

Impact

Identify bottlenecks — if many cases stall at POSTAL_PENDING, subjects are receiving letters but not entering codes.

Example

Created: 100 → Digital Verified: 85 → Postal Dispatched: 80 → Postal Verified: 65 → Complete: 62 → Failed: 8 → Expired: 15.

Description

Cases escalated from the automated flow for human review. Typically due to risk signals, edge cases, or caseworker discretion.

Impact

Manual review cases require a caseworker to approve or reject. They do not auto-complete.

Example

Case escalated due to risk score 85 + ghost address. Caseworker reviews evidence, clicks "Approve" (→ COMPLETE) or "Reject" (→ FAILED).

Description

Create multiple verification cases at once by uploading a CSV file. The system validates every row, flags errors, checks for duplicates, and processes valid rows in parallel.

Impact

Enables bulk onboarding — process hundreds of verification cases from a single file upload instead of creating them one by one.

Example

Upload "clients_q1.csv" with 50 rows → Validate → 47 valid, 2 invalid, 1 duplicate → Upload 47 cases → Cases created and digital OTPs sent.

Description

Your CSV must include these required columns: name (subject's full name), email (for notifications and digital OTP), line1 (street address), city, postalCode, countryCode (2-letter ISO code e.g. GB, US, DE). Optional columns: phone (with country prefix e.g. +44), line2, region, reference (your internal ID), bundleId (1 = Basic, 2 = Standard, 3 = Enhanced, 4 = Maximum).

Impact

Correct CSV formatting ensures maximum validation success. Missing required columns will cause row-level errors.

Example

Header row: name,email,phone,line1,line2,city,region,postalCode,countryCode,reference,bundleId Data row: Jane Smith,jane@example.com,+447700900123,12 Baker Street,,London,,NW1 6XE,GB,MATTER-001,3

Description

Before uploading, click "Preview & Validate" to check your file. The system checks: required fields present, valid email format, valid country codes, address completeness, and duplicate detection against existing cases.

Impact

Validation catches errors before cases are created, saving time and avoiding wasted postal costs on invalid addresses.

Example

Validation results: Total Rows: 50, Valid: 47 (green), Invalid: 2 (red), Duplicates: 1 (amber). Country breakdown: GB: 30, US: 15, DE: 5.

Description

Common errors: "Missing required field" (name/line1/city/postalCode/countryCode is blank), "Invalid country code" (not a recognised 2-letter ISO code), "Invalid email format" (malformed email), "Duplicate" (same name+address already exists as an active case).

Impact

Each error shows the row number, field name, and error message so you can fix the exact issue in your CSV.

Example

Row 15: postalCode — "Missing required field". Row 23: countryCode — "Invalid country code 'UK' (expected 'GB')". Row 31: name — "Duplicate of row 12 (Jane Smith, 12 Baker Street)".

Description

After validation, you'll see: Total Rows (all rows in CSV), Valid (ready to upload), Invalid (have errors — fix and re-upload), Duplicates (match existing active cases — skipped). Only valid rows are processed when you click Upload.

Impact

Invalid and duplicate rows are skipped. You can download a report of failed rows to fix and re-upload separately.

Example

Click "Upload 47 Cases" → system creates 47 verification cases in parallel. Each case gets digital OTPs sent immediately. Postal letters dispatched based on bundle config.

Description

After upload, each batch job shows a status: Processing (still creating cases), Complete (all rows processed), Failed (system error during processing). The progress bar shows Succeeded/Failed/Remaining counts.

Impact

Monitor batch progress in real-time. Most batches complete within minutes.

Example

Batch "clients_q1.csv": 47/47 processed, 45 succeeded, 2 failed. Click "View Errors" to see which rows failed.

Description

Click "View Errors" on a completed batch to see which rows failed and why. Click "Download Report" to get a CSV of failed rows with error details — fix the errors and re-upload just those rows. "Retry Failed" re-processes failed rows without re-uploading.

Impact

Efficiently handle partial failures without re-processing the entire batch.

Example

Error report: Row 12 — "Address validation failed: undeliverable address". Row 38 — "Plan limit exceeded". Fix address in row 12, upgrade plan, then retry.

Description

Opens the case creation form where you enter the subject's details, address, and select a verification bundle. Once submitted, digital OTPs are sent immediately and a postal letter is dispatched (if the bundle includes postal verification).

Impact

The primary way to start a single address verification. For bulk verifications, use Batch Upload instead.

Example

Click "New Case" → fill in name, email, address → select "Enhanced" bundle → click "Create Case" → email OTP sent within seconds, letter dispatched within 1 hour.

Description

View all subjects (people being verified) across all your cases. Search by name, email, phone, or address. Click any recipient to see their full verification history, risk signals, and address changes over time.

Impact

Central directory of all people you've ever verified. Useful for re-verification, fraud investigation, and compliance audits.

Example

Search "Jane Smith" → see all cases for that person → click through to view detailed profile with verification history, risk signals, and address timeline.

Description

Create multiple verification cases at once by uploading a CSV file. The system validates every row, flags errors, checks for duplicates against existing cases, and processes valid rows in parallel.

Impact

Essential for high-volume onboarding. Process hundreds of verifications from a single file instead of creating cases one by one.

Example

Prepare CSV with columns: name, line1, city, postalCode, countryCode (required) + email, phone, reference (optional) → Upload → Validate → Process.

Description

Digital-only verification using email OTP. An 8-character OTP code is sent to the subject's email address. The subject enters the code to verify email ownership. Fastest completion time (~5 minutes). TTL (Time To Live) defines how long each OTP code remains valid before expiring — e.g. "30m TTL" means the code expires after 30 minutes.

Impact

Assurance level: Verified (Digital). Suitable for low-risk onboarding where email confirmation is sufficient and postal proof is not required by regulation.

Example

Layers enabled: Email (required). Subject receives email with OTP "A3K9X2MF" → enters code → case completes with "Verified (Digital)" assurance.

Benchmark

Completion time: 2-5 minutes. Success rate: 85-95%. Cost: lowest (no postal dispatch).

Description

Two-factor digital verification using both email OTP (8-character code) and SMS OTP (6-digit code). Both channels must be verified for the case to complete.

Impact

Assurance level: Verified (Digital). Provides dual-channel digital confirmation. Stronger than Basic but still does not prove physical address possession.

Example

Layers enabled: Email (required), SMS (required). Subject receives email OTP "A3K9X2MF" + SMS OTP "482917" → enters both → case completes.

Benchmark

Completion time: 3-10 minutes. Success rate: 80-90%. Cost: low (email + SMS, no postal).

Description

Full postal + digital verification. Sends email OTP and dispatches a tracked physical letter with a unique 10-character postal OTP and QR code. SMS is optional. The postal letter proves physical possession of the address.

Impact

Assurance level: Verified (Digital + Postal). Meets the strictest FCA, SRA, and HMRC requirements for proof of address. The gold standard for regulated industries.

Example

Layers enabled: Email (required), SMS (optional), Postal (required). Subject verifies email → letter arrives in 1-7 days → subject enters postal OTP → case completes.

Benchmark

Completion time: 3-10 days (depends on postal delivery). Success rate: 70-85%. Cost: medium (includes postal dispatch).

Description

Highest assurance. All four verification layers: email OTP (8-char), SMS OTP (6-digit), postal letter (10-char OTP + QR code), AND GPS geo-location capture when entering the postal code. Proves both mail receipt AND physical presence at the address.

Impact

Assurance level: Verified (Digital + Postal) with geo confirmation. The strongest possible proof that the subject physically resides at the claimed address.

Example

Layers: Email (required), SMS (required), Postal (required), Geo (required, 200m radius). Subject verifies email + SMS → receives letter → enters postal OTP while GPS confirms they're at the address.

Benchmark

Completion time: 3-10 days. Success rate: 60-75% (geo may fail if subject declines location). Cost: highest.

Description

The bundle marked as "Default" is automatically used when cases are created via the API without specifying a bundleId. Only one bundle can be the default at any time.

Impact

Controls the verification flow for API-created cases and any cases where the caseworker doesn't explicitly select a bundle.

Example

Set "Enhanced" as default → all API-created cases automatically use email + postal verification. Change to "Basic" → API cases only use email.

Description

Pre-configured verification packages provided by Postal.id: Basic, Standard, Enhanced, and Maximum. These cannot be edited or deleted but can be set as the default.

Impact

Platform packages cover the most common verification scenarios. Create custom packages only if you need non-standard layer combinations.

Example

Platform packages: Basic (email only), Standard (email + SMS), Enhanced (email + SMS + postal), Maximum (all 4 layers). All are always available.

Description

A "recipient" (also called "subject") is the person whose address is being verified. Each recipient may have multiple verification cases if they've been verified at different addresses or re-verified over time.

Impact

Click any recipient to view their full profile including verification history, risk signals, address changes, and verification method success rates.

Example

Recipient "Jane Smith" has 3 cases: 1 completed (London address), 1 active (Manchester address), 1 failed (disposable email detected).

Description

Shows the status of the most recent verification case for this recipient. Reflects where they are in the verification flow right now.

Impact

Quick indicator of whether the recipient's most recent verification is complete, in progress, or has issues.

Example

COMPLETE (green): latest case fully verified. POSTAL_DISPATCHED (amber): letter sent, awaiting delivery. FAILED (red): latest case failed.

Description

Total number of verification cases ever created for this recipient across all addresses and time periods. Includes active, completed, failed, and expired cases.

Impact

Multiple cases may exist if the recipient moved, if a previous case expired, or if periodic re-verification is required.

Example

3 cases: means this person has been through the verification process 3 separate times (possibly at different addresses).

Description

Aggregated risk percentage based on all risk signals detected for this recipient across all their cases. Combines ghost address, mail forwarding, address velocity, disposable email, and cross-tenant signals.

Impact

Red (>70%): High risk — investigate immediately. Amber (40-70%): Moderate risk — review recommended. Green (<40%): Low risk — no immediate action needed.

Example

15%: Low risk (no signals). 52%: Medium (disposable email detected). 85%: High (ghost address + cross-tenant + velocity).

Formula

Weighted average of all risk signals across all cases for this recipient.

Description

Search across name, email, phone number, and address fields. Filter by case status to find recipients at a specific verification stage. Sort by newest, oldest, name alphabetically, or most cases.

Impact

Quickly find specific recipients or identify groups of recipients in a particular state.

Example

Search "Manchester" → shows all recipients with Manchester addresses. Filter "FAILED" → shows recipients whose latest case failed.

Description

All verification cases ever created for this person, regardless of outcome. Includes active cases in progress, successfully completed cases, failed cases, and expired cases.

Impact

A high case count may indicate re-verifications (normal) or repeated failed attempts (investigate).

Example

5 total cases: 3 completed, 1 active, 1 expired.

Description

Cases currently in progress — not yet reached a terminal state (COMPLETE, FAILED, or EXPIRED). These are cases where the subject still needs to complete one or more verification steps.

Impact

Active cases require monitoring. If a case stays active for too long, the subject may need a reminder.

Example

2 active cases: one at DIGITAL_PENDING (email OTP sent, awaiting entry), one at POSTAL_DISPATCHED (letter sent, awaiting delivery).

Description

The subject's name, email address, and phone number as provided when the case was created. "First Seen" shows when this person was first added to the system. "Latest Status" shows their most recent case state.

Impact

Contact information is used for email OTP delivery (email) and SMS OTP delivery (phone). Tags help categorise recipients.

Example

Name: Jane Smith. Email: jane@example.com. Phone: +44 7700 900123. First Seen: 15 Jan 2026. Tags: VIP, Priority.

Description

The most recent address provided for verification. "Verified" with a date means postal verification was successfully completed for this address. Ghost Address and Forwarding badges indicate risk flags detected during address validation.

Impact

The current address is the one used for the latest or active verification case. Previous addresses appear in Address History.

Example

12 Baker Street, London, NW1 6XE, GB. Verified: 20 Feb 2026. Badges: none (clean address).

Description

Breakdown of how many email, SMS, and postal OTPs were sent to this recipient and how many were successfully verified. The progress bar shows the success rate for each channel.

Impact

Identifies which verification channels work best for this recipient. Low success on a channel may indicate delivery issues.

Example

Email: 3 sent, 3 verified (100%). SMS: 2 sent, 2 verified (100%). Postal: 2 sent, 1 verified (50%). Green bar (≥80%), Amber (50-79%), Red (<50%).

Description

Chronological list of all addresses this person has been verified at across all their cases. Each entry shows the full address, country flag, and whether verification was completed.

Impact

Useful for detecting frequent movers, address fraud patterns, or confirming legitimate address changes over time.

Example

1. 12 Baker Street, London — Verified 20 Feb 2026. 2. 45 Oxford Road, Manchester — Verified 15 Nov 2025. 3. PO Box 123, Bristol (Ghost badge) — Not verified.

Description

All verification cases for this recipient in reverse chronological order. Click any Case ID to view the full case details including timeline, risk assessment, and evidence pack.

Impact

Complete audit trail of every verification attempt for this person. Useful for compliance reviews and dispute resolution.

Example

Case a1b2c3d4: COMPLETE, Verified (Digital + Postal), 12 Baker Street, 20 Feb 2026. Case e5f6g7h8: FAILED, --, 45 Oxford Road, 15 Nov 2025.

Description

The person whose address is being verified. "Subject" is Postal.id terminology for the end-person — not your employee or team member. Provide their full legal name as it would appear at the address.

Impact

The subject's name is printed on the postal letter and included in the evidence pack. Use the correct legal name for compliance purposes.

Example

Input: "Jane Elizabeth Smith" (full legal name). Avoid nicknames or abbreviations unless that's the name at the address.

Description

Email is used for email OTP delivery (8-character code). Phone (with country prefix like +44 for UK, +1 for US) is used for SMS OTP delivery (6-digit code). Both are optional but required if the selected verification bundle includes email/SMS layers.

Impact

Without email, the email OTP layer cannot function. Without phone, the SMS OTP layer cannot function. Postal verification does not require either.

Example

Email: jane.smith@example.com. Phone: +447700900123 (UK mobile) or +12125551234 (US). Note: phone must include country prefix.

Description

Legal requirement (GDPR/data protection): you must confirm the subject has given consent for address verification before creating a case. This checkbox is mandatory — the case cannot be created without it.

Impact

Ensures compliance with data protection regulations. The consent status is recorded in the audit trail and included in the evidence pack.

Example

Check the box to confirm: "Subject has given consent for address verification". Unchecked = "Create Case" button is disabled.

Description

After entering an address, the system automatically validates it for deliverability. Checks include: valid postal code format, known ghost/virtual office addresses, active mail forwarding/redirection services, and address standardisation.

Impact

Pre-dispatch validation prevents wasted postal costs on undeliverable addresses and flags risk signals early.

Example

Enter "12 Baker St, London" → validation returns: Deliverable (green tick), standardised to "12 Baker Street, London, NW1 6XE". Or: "71-75 Shelton Street" → Ghost Address warning (orange).

Description

Choose which verification bundle to use for this case. Each package defines which layers (email, SMS, postal, geo) are enabled and whether they're required or optional. "Default" badge means this is the bundle used for API-created cases. "Platform" badge means it's provided by Postal.id.

Impact

The selected package determines the verification flow, timeline, cost, and resulting assurance level.

Example

Select "Enhanced" → email OTP sent immediately, postal letter dispatched within 1 hour. Estimated postal cost shown below (e.g. £1.20 for UK letter).

Description

Optional internal reference for your own records. Use your matter ID, client number, file reference, or any identifier that helps you match this verification case to your internal systems.

Impact

Searchable in the case list and included in webhook payloads and evidence packs. Makes it easy to cross-reference with your practice management software.

Example

Examples: "MATTER-2024-001", "CLT-4521", "AML-REF-789", "Property-Sale-42-High-St". Any format up to 100 characters.

Description

Verification scores decay logarithmically over time using a half-life of ~180 days. The decay rate is 0.15, meaning scores erode quickly at first then slow down. A score never drops below 10% of its original value.

Impact

Decay reflects that proof of address becomes less reliable over time — people move, addresses change. Monitoring decay helps you plan re-verifications before scores become unreliable.

Example

A score of 85 at completion decays to ~72 after 180 days, ~63 after 360 days.

Formula

currentScore = originalScore × (1 − 0.15 × ln(1 + daysSince / 180))

Description

The anticipated date when the verification score will decay below the 30-point acceptance threshold. This is computed from the original score and the completion date using the logarithmic decay formula.

Impact

Plan re-verification before this date to maintain continuous, uninterrupted proof of address for your client. After this date, the Postal ID may no longer be accepted by other tenants.

Example

A case completed on 1 Jan 2026 with a score of 85 would have a reverification date around mid-2027.

Description

The number of days remaining before the verification score drops below the acceptance threshold (30 points). Colour coded: green (>90 days), amber (30–90 days), red (<30 days), or "Overdue" if already past due.

Impact

Gives you an at-a-glance view of which cases need attention soon. Prioritise cases in red or amber for re-verification.

Description

Creating a new verification case for the same person and address. This resets the decay clock, updates the Postal ID score to the new verification result, and increments the re-verification count.

Impact

Essential for maintaining long-term proof of address for ongoing client relationships. Each re-verification strengthens the Postal ID credential.

Description

The total number of tenant organisations registered on the platform, including both active and disabled accounts.

Impact

Tracks platform adoption. Growth in tenant count indicates market traction.

Benchmark

Healthy platforms see steady month-over-month growth. A disabled tenant count above 20% may indicate onboarding or retention issues.

Description

The total number of individual user accounts across all tenants, excluding soft-deleted users.

Impact

Indicates platform engagement depth. Multiple users per tenant suggests healthy adoption.

Benchmark

Average 2-5 users per tenant is typical for professional services firms.

Description

The all-time count of verification cases created across all tenants. Includes cases in all states: active, completed, failed, and expired.

Impact

The primary volume metric for the platform. Drives revenue and capacity planning.

Formula

Total Cases = sum of all cases across all tenants, regardless of status.

Description

The percentage of all cases that reached COMPLETE status, calculated as Completed Cases / Total Cases.

Impact

The key quality metric. A low success rate may indicate issues with postal delivery, subject engagement, or verification flow usability.

Benchmark

Target 60-80% for a healthy platform. Below 50% warrants investigation into failure causes.

Formula

Success Rate = (COMPLETE cases / Total Cases) × 100

Description

The number of cases created in the current calendar month. Compared against last month to show growth trend.

Impact

Tracks current platform activity and billing volume. A declining trend may indicate tenant churn.

Description

Cases currently in progress — not yet completed, failed, or expired. Includes states: CREATED, DIGITAL_PENDING, DIGITAL_VERIFIED, POSTAL_DISPATCHED, POSTAL_PENDING, POSTAL_VERIFIED, and MANUAL_REVIEW.

Impact

Indicates current platform workload. A high number of active cases relative to completions may indicate bottlenecks.

Description

Cases that have been escalated to MANUAL_REVIEW status, requiring a human caseworker to make a verification decision.

Impact

Cases awaiting human decision. A growing queue indicates either increased risk signals or insufficient caseworker capacity.

Description

The percentage of cases that ended in FAILED or EXPIRED status, calculated as (Failed + Expired) / Total Cases.

Impact

Indicates verification friction. High failure rates reduce platform value and tenant satisfaction.

Benchmark

Target below 30%. Above 40% requires investigation. Expired cases often indicate subject disengagement rather than system failure.

Formula

Failure Rate = (FAILED + EXPIRED cases / Total Cases) × 100

Description

A breakdown of all cases grouped by their current status, showing count and percentage for each state in the verification pipeline.

Impact

Provides a snapshot of where cases are in the funnel. Useful for identifying bottlenecks and throughput issues.

Description

The top 10 tenants ranked by total case volume. Shows tenant name, billing plan, active/disabled status, and case count.

Impact

Identifies your highest-volume clients. These tenants drive most of the platform revenue and should receive priority support.

Description

A tenant is a corporate client organisation registered on Postal.id. Each tenant has their own users, cases, verification bundles, branding, and billing.

Impact

Tenants are the primary unit of multi-tenancy. All data is strictly isolated between tenants — a user in one tenant can never see another tenant's data.

Description

The subscription tier assigned to a tenant: Trial (limited free cases), Starter, Professional, or Enterprise. Each plan defines case limits, feature access, and pricing.

Impact

Determines how many cases a tenant can create per period and which features are available.

Benchmark

Trial: 1-3 cases. Starter: 50/month. Professional: 500/month. Enterprise: unlimited.

Description

Whether a tenant account is Active or Disabled. Disabled tenants cannot log in or create new cases, but their existing data is preserved.

Impact

Disabling a tenant is a reversible action — it blocks access without deleting data. Used for non-payment, policy violations, or at tenant request.

Description

The number of user accounts within a tenant. Includes Tenant Admins (full access), Caseworkers (create/manage cases), and Auditors (read-only).

Impact

User count indicates how deeply a tenant has adopted the platform. More users generally means higher engagement.

Description

The total number of verification cases created by a tenant, broken down by status.

Impact

Case volume drives billing and indicates tenant engagement level.

Description

Enable or disable a tenant account. Only available to Platform Admins (not Support Agents).

Impact

Disabling blocks all login and case creation for that tenant. Enabling restores full access.

Description

The tenant's platform configuration including verification policy, branding (logo, colours), webhook settings, and API key management.

Impact

Configuration determines how the tenant's verification flow behaves — which channels are required, OTP expiry times, and assurance levels.

Description

Global platform configuration including rate limits (OTP attempts, API requests), default values (bundle, OTP expiry, evidence retention), feature flags, and maintenance mode.

Impact

Changes affect all tenants platform-wide. Rate limits protect against abuse. Feature flags control which capabilities are available.

Description

Real-time health status of external service providers: postal (Lob, Stannp), email (Resend), SMS (Infobip/Twilio), and storage (S3). Each provider shows Healthy, Degraded, or Down status.

Impact

Provider health directly affects verification capability. A Down postal provider means letters cannot be dispatched in that region.

Benchmark

All providers should be Healthy. Degraded indicates elevated error rates. Down means the circuit breaker has tripped.

Description

Monitoring for webhook event deliveries to tenant endpoints. Shows success rate, average response time, retry queue depth, and per-tenant health.

Impact

Failed webhooks mean tenants miss real-time notifications about case status changes. A growing retry queue indicates endpoint issues.

Benchmark

Target >95% webhook delivery success rate. Average response time should be under 2 seconds.

Description

Immutable, append-only record of all significant platform events: case creation, status changes, user logins, settings modifications, evidence downloads, and security events.

Impact

The audit log is the compliance backbone. Regulators and auditors rely on it to verify that verification processes were followed correctly.

Description

Cross-tenant search across all verified subjects (recipients). Supports search by name, email, or case number, plus bulk search for multiple values at once.

Impact

Enables support agents to quickly find any recipient across the entire platform when handling queries.

Description

Detailed health monitoring for each external API provider. Shows latency, success rate, circuit breaker state, endpoint documentation, and last error.

Impact

Provides visibility into third-party dependencies. Useful for diagnosing delivery failures or slow verification times.

Description

A read-only platform role for postal.id employees who handle customer support. Support Agents can view all admin data (tenants, cases, recipients, audit logs) but cannot modify settings, toggle tenants, or change configurations.

Impact

Enables customer support without the risk of accidental configuration changes.

Description

When enabled, all tenant portals display a maintenance message instead of normal content. Only Platform Admins can enable/disable maintenance mode from Platform Settings.

Impact

Use during planned deployments or infrastructure changes. Prevents tenants from encountering errors during updates.