You may be familiar with seeing barcodes printed on mail that you receive. A barcode is created by combining the Checksum Digit and the Delivery Point Suffix (DPS) from within PIF™ to a postcode with PAF®. Primarily this is used to improve the speed and accuracy with which the letter is sorted.
You’ll also:
benefit from getting your mail and parcels to your customers quickly and offering them a fantastic service
Be eligible for receiving discounts on other Royal Mail mailing products and services
Product information
What is PIF™ data and what does it include?
PIF™ contains information that is unique to a delivery point. When combined with the postcode within PAF® you can define a single live delivery point.
Delivery point details are provided either just as a building number or as a string containing the most significant 50 characters of the Delivery Point description.
What doesn’t PIF™ data include?
PIF™ does not contain full postal addresses. If you require full PAF® address and the DPS these can be found in the PAF Main File and PAF Compressed Standard Files.
File formats
Royal Mail provides PIF™ as raw data in one file format.
PIF data is available on CD or via Internet download; updates can be taken monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or annually.
Technical Information
If you license the use of PIF™ raw data, we offer detailed technical information to help you programme your own addressing solutions. Explore our Programmers Guide
Licensing
The use of PAF® and PIF™ data are covered by the PAF® Data Licence Agreement. The supply of PAF® and PIF™ data are covered by the PAF® Data Supply Agreement.
For end-users
If you intend to use the data within your own organisation, on a website, or for both, then you are defined as the end-user.
If you choose to license PAF® and PIF™ raw data directly from Royal Mail then we will be responsible for your licensing. If you decide to purchase a solution that incorporates PAF® and PIF™ from a licensed solutions provider then they will return a PAF® royalty fee to Royal Mail on your behalf.
We also provide licensing documentation. Learn more from the Resources section of the PAF Compliance Centre. You can also email us.
If you license Full PAF® directly from Royal Mail, and you wish to use PIF™ in conjunction with your PAF® data you will not incur any additional licensing fees, as long as there are no additional users. Additional PIF™ users should be licensed as if they are PAF® users.
If you don’t currently license full PAF® then your use of PIF™ will need to be licensed as if they are a Full PAF® user. Learn more about PAF® Licensing Or, email us
If you are a Solutions Provider or an End-User who purchases data directly from Royal Mail then you will need to pay a data supply fee.
| A Complete Edition |
CD |
Online |
| Every year |
£80 |
£60 |
| Every 6 months |
£160 |
£120 |
| Every 3 months |
£200 |
£150 |
| Every month |
£240 |
£180 |
| A Complete Edition followed by: | ||
| 3 x Quarterly Updates |
£200 |
£150 |
| 11 x Monthly Updates |
£240 |
£180 |
All fees are exclusive of VAT. VAT will be charged at the prevailing rate.
Sample data
If you are interested in developing your own software solutions that incorporate address data then you can download a sample of PIF™. Simply complete the registration process, accept our terms and download your data. Alternatively, our First Steps CD contains samples of PIF™, PAF®, and our other raw datasets. Request your free copy of First Steps now.
How to buy
To buy a software solution containing Royal Mail’s address data
Find a supplier – you can either search by your addressing need or by keyword
To buy data from the Royal Mail Address Management Unit
Email us at address.management@royalmail.com or call us on 0845 606 6854 (option 3)
To become a Solutions Provider
Other products you may be interested in
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Not Yet Built™
With records of properties planned and under construction, Not Yet Built™ will help you reach more potential customers. Learn more about Not Yet Built™
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