Hacker News Reader

The US kind of/sort of has a similar thing with extended zip codes. From what I understand, the postal service usually assigns an extended zip code for each building they deliver to. If you’re at a single family residence, then it’s equivalent to the Singaporean example above (though it’s possible the postal service will still reject a letter addressed to just an extended zip code!).

View on HN

I'm not sure what extended zip codes are as I'm only aware of the zip codes like 90210 which cover a large area. But here in the NL a lot of online shopping for example don't even ask you for the street name, just the post code (4 digits + 2 letters) and of course your house number. You type in the post code and the street name gets filled in, leaving you with just the house number to enter.

You'll see the US's extended ZIP codes referred to as Zip+4, as they have nine digits instead of the usual five. So, 90210-1234 refers to a specific Delivery Sector and Delivery Segment within Beverly Hills. The segment can be a particular building or even just one floor of a building. Or, it can refer to all the buildings on one side of the street. It's up to the post office.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com