CMRA – Commercial Mail Receiving Agency

What is CMRA?

CMRA stands for Commercial Mail Receiving Agency. A CMRA is a private business that accepts mail on behalf of clients. These businesses offer services similar to a PO Box but are managed independently of the USPS. Common examples include private mailbox providers such as The UPS Store, Mail Boxes Etc., and other business centers.

Validated United States addresses include a CMRA flag based on United States Postal Service (USPS) data through the Delivery Point Validation (DPV) system. When an address is flagged as a CMRA, it means mail sent to that address is being handled by a third-party mail-receiving service rather than being delivered directly to a residential or business location.

Why is CMRA Important?

Identifying whether an address is associated with a CMRA is important for several reasons:

• Fraud Prevention: CMRA addresses are sometimes used for anonymity or to obscure the true location of an individual or business. Recognizing these addresses can be crucial for industries that need to verify physical presence, such as finance, insurance, or ecommerce.
• Compliance: Some regulatory or business rules may prohibit deliveries to CMRAs for legal, contractual, or logistical reasons.
• Data Quality: Including CMRA status in address records enhances the overall quality and integrity of customer data.
• Delivery Optimization: Understanding the nature of the address helps businesses optimize shipping decisions, manage logistics costs, and improve delivery success rates.

For more information about the special delivery and formatting considerations that apply to CMRA addresses, refer to Publication 28 – the Postal Addressing Standards document published by the USPS. Their section dealing with CMRAs can be found here.

How Can CMRA Be Identified?

The CMRA data point is included in the standard DPV information returned from an address cleanse; these address cleansing capabilities are accessible through CASS-certified (Coding Accuracy Support System) address validation tools. These tools verify whether an address is valid and deliverable, and also provide metadata—such as CMRA status.

To determine whether an address is associated with a CMRA, you need to use address validation software that is CASS-certified and integrated with DPV data. Our enterprise self-managed address validation software meets these requirements. It allows businesses to:

• Validate addresses in real time or in batch
• Identify CMRA status and other address-level metadata
• Maintain compliance with USPS standards
• Enhance customer data accuracy and reliability

Conclusion

Understanding the CMRA attribute is a key aspect of comprehensive address validation. It not only helps ensure accurate delivery but also supports regulatory compliance, fraud prevention, and data hygiene. With the right tools—such as our enterprise-grade, CASS-certified software—businesses can easily identify CMRA addresses and make informed decisions about how to handle them.

If you’d like to learn more about how our software can help you validate addresses and identify CMRA status effectively, feel free to contact us for a demo or more information.