How Address to ISO 20022 API Works
Our service combines advanced address parsing intelligence with real-world validation to transform any address format into ISO 20022 compliant structures. Here's how we do it.
Intelligent Address Parsing
At the heart of our service is a sophisticated address parsing engine that understands the nuances of postal addresses across different countries, languages, and formats. Our intelligent parser:
- Recognizes patterns: Identifies street names, building numbers, postal codes, cities, and other address components regardless of how they're written
- Handles variations: Understands different address conventions, abbreviations, and formatting styles used around the world
- Extracts structure: Automatically separates and categorizes address elements into the ISO 20022 PostalAddress format
- Validates components: Checks that extracted elements follow country-specific rules and standards
This parsing intelligence has been developed through extensive analysis of address patterns and continuously refined to handle edge cases and regional variations.
Building Verification with OpenStreetMap
To ensure address accuracy and validate that buildings actually exist, we integrate with OpenStreetMap (OSM) - the world's most comprehensive open-source mapping database. This verification process:
- Confirms building existence: Verifies that the address corresponds to a real building or location in OpenStreetMap
- Enriches with coordinates: Provides precise latitude and longitude coordinates for mapping and geospatial applications
- Validates address components: Cross-references parsed address elements with OSM data to ensure consistency
- Enhances confidence: Building verification increases the reliability of address normalization results
Important Note: We update our OpenStreetMap data twice per year. Recently constructed buildings may not yet appear in our validation database. If you encounter an address for a new building that isn't verified, this is expected and doesn't necessarily indicate an error in the address itself.
Why Confidence Metrics Matter
Address parsing and normalization is inherently challenging. Addresses come in countless formats, languages, and conventions. Some addresses are incomplete, ambiguous, or contain errors. That's why we provide comprehensive confidence metrics with every result:
Parsing Confidence
Indicates how confident we are that address components were correctly identified and extracted from the input.
Geocoding Confidence
Shows the reliability of the geocoding result and coordinate accuracy.
Completeness Score
Measures how complete the address information is relative to what's typically required for the given country.
Overall Confidence
A weighted score combining all confidence metrics to give you a single reliability indicator.
These metrics help you make informed decisions about how to use the normalized address. High confidence scores indicate reliable results suitable for automated processing, while lower scores may require manual review.
Continuous Improvement
We're committed to continuously improving the accuracy and reliability of our address parsing service. Our team regularly:
- Refines parsing algorithms based on real-world usage patterns
- Expands support for additional countries and address formats
- Enhances validation rules and error detection
- Updates OpenStreetMap data to include new buildings and locations
- Incorporates feedback from our users to improve accuracy
Your feedback matters! If you encounter an address that wasn't parsed correctly or notice any issues, please let us know. We use this feedback to improve our service for everyone.
Contact us through your dashboard or reach out to our support team.
The Process
When you send an address to our API, here's what happens:
- Input Analysis: Our intelligent parser analyzes the free-form address, identifying patterns and potential address components
- Component Extraction: Street names, building numbers, postal codes, cities, and other elements are extracted and structured
- Validation: Extracted components are validated against country-specific rules and standards
- Geocoding: The address is geocoded to obtain coordinates and verify building existence in OpenStreetMap
- Confidence Calculation: Multiple confidence metrics are calculated based on parsing accuracy, geocoding results, and data completeness
- ISO 20022 Formatting: The structured address is formatted according to ISO 20022 PostalAddress specifications
- Response: You receive a complete normalized address with geocoding, confidence metrics, and all necessary metadata
All of this happens in milliseconds, allowing you to process addresses at scale with enterprise-grade reliability.
Important Disclaimer
While we strive for accuracy and continuously work to improve our service, address parsing and validation is a complex task with inherent challenges:
- Address formats vary significantly across countries and regions
- Some addresses may be incomplete, ambiguous, or contain errors in the source data
- Recently constructed buildings may not yet appear in OpenStreetMap
- Address parsing accuracy depends on the quality and completeness of input data
We are not liable for any direct or indirect losses, damages, or consequences arising from the use of our address normalization service.
We recommend reviewing addresses with lower confidence scores and validating critical addresses through additional means when necessary.
Experience the Difference
See how our intelligent address parsing can transform your address data. Try our API with your addresses and experience the accuracy and reliability that financial institutions trust.