Express Capture Guides
Changes to New Zealand Mail Bulk Services from 1 July 2020
Currently an annual SOA assessment is required for each customer to lodge Bulk Mail with New Zealand Post.
From 1 July 2020, the requirement to submit a Lodgement Data File (LDF) will apply to all Bulk Mail services to support the changeover to the new AAP (Address Accuracy Percentage) process, to be effective 1 February 2021.
The AAP process replaces the SOA process on 1 February 2021. The AAP will be calculated only on records with valid postcodes (records charged the IPC price will be excluded from the assessment). “AAP” columns will replace the “SOA” in the rate cards from 1 July 2020 but SOA will still apply until 31 January 2021.
For more information please go to Changes to our rates and services from 1 July 2020 | NZ Post
Paf Release Timetable
Below is a table of when the Australia Post PAF is released.
| Paf Date | Release Month | Expiry |
| 20xx.1 | December | 1/5/xx |
| 20xx.2 | March | 1/8/xx |
| 20xx.3 | June | 1/11/xx |
| 20xx.4 | September | 1/2/xx |
AUS Paflink Extended Data Code Table
Below is a list of the fields available in Paflink Extended Data:
Output fields
- D01 – GeoREsult
- D02 – Longitude
- D03 – Latitude
- D66 – SA1_2011_7Digit
- D67 – SA1_2011_MainCode
- D68 – SA1_2016_7Digit
- D69 – SA1_2016_MainCode
- D70 – LGA _2011
- D71 – LGA_2016
- D72 – MESHBLOCK_2011
- D73 – MESHBLOCK_2016
- D74 – DT_GEO_LEVEL
- D75 – GNAF_SITE_PID
- D55 – Latitude (Extended No.)
- D56 – Longitude (Extended No.)
- 7 = Geocode to House/Building
- 6 = Geocode to the street
- 4 = Geocode to the locality
- P = Point
- S = Street
- L = Locality
How to install your DataTools PAFlink & NZPAFlink data
Data for both PAFlink and NZPAFlink is released quarterly in March, June, September and December of each year.
When the data is ready – you will receive an email from the DataTools Client Service team to notify you that it is available for download and installation.
IMPORTANT: As DataTools are only delivering an update to the PAFlink &/or NZPAFlink data – you MUST keep a copy of your last install and serial number from Acxiom in case you ever need to reinstall it.
DataTools does not have a copy of this install, nor your serial number, so this is a very important step to note.
Should you have any questions please contact the Client Service Team on (02) 9687 4666, support@datatools.com.au or via the chat on our main website. Our team are based in Sydney and are available between 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday.
Steps to update PAFlink data for Australia
- Make sure that ALL users have exited any program using the PAFlink data
- Download the latest data from the link contained in your email and save it onto the desktop of the PC/Server that the PAFLink data is required on.
- Uncompress the file, then copy and paste the data into the PAFlink folder of your install. Click yes to overwrite existing data.
Steps to update NZPAFlink data for New Zealand
- Make sure that ALL users have exited any program using the NZPAFlink data
- Download the latest data from the link contained in your email and save it onto the desktop of the PC/Server that the NZPAFLink data is required on.
- Uncompress the file, then copy and paste the data into the NZPAFlink folder of your install. Click yes to overwrite existing data.
Prodlog file requirements for New Zealand Post SOA renewal
There are two components to the SOA generation process:
– the certificate which you keep for a minimum of two years, using some detail for the actual lodgement process, and
– an entry in an Audit log.
If you are generating your own certificates then you must maintain the Audit log for at least two years and it has to be provided via email, SOAProdlog@nzpost.co.nz, to NZ Post whenever a new SOA is produced.
Produce an entry in your SOA log file. The entry will contain the same information as your certificate. You are obliged to keep all log files for a minimum of two years and provide the logs via email to New Zealand Post at SOAProdlog@nzpost.co.nz as close to the time the SOA has been produced as possible, and prior to any attempt to use the new SOA to lodge Bulk Mail/VolumePost mail with New Zealand Post. You should not at any time attempt to edit your SOA log file(s) in any way.
When sending your ProdLog through to New Zealand Post, please ensure the following:
i. The email subject line must read “SOA PROD LOG AUTOLOAD FILE”.
ii. There must be only one file attached to any given email.
iii. The attached file must meet the current requirements.
iv. It would be highly desirable if the file did not include expired SOA certificates.
v. It would be desirable if the file included only new SOA certificates that have not been sent before
vi. Remove any signature from the email in which the ProdLog is attached as the system New Zealand Post uses to identify the attachment and automatically upload it picks up the email signature and the SOA ProdLog upload fails.
How to change SOAtemplate.txt in NZ PAFLINK folder
To be able to print Statement of Accuracy (SOA) certificate in 2017 – customer must have the correct year and data provider company name included in your ‘SOAtemplate.txt’ file in NZPAFlink folder.
To do this you will need to amend your ‘SOAtemplate.txt’ file. There is only ONE small text change to be made.
NOTE: It is VERY important that you make this change ON OR JUST BEFORE January 1, every year to remain compliant.
The instructions on how to do this are:
- Locate your ‘SOAtemplate.txt’ file
- Right click on the file and ‘Open With’ a program that allows you to edit the text file, like Notepad.The file should contain similar information to what is shown below (but with your information included – not all details will match below.) The line highlighted in green is the one that requires changing.STATEMENT OF ACCURACY
SOA ISSUER|Your Company Name Pty
SOFTWARE NAME|NZ PAFlink Batch
SOFTWARE VERSION|
PAF VERSION USED|
SOA UNIQUE REFERENCE|ACX16_XXXCUSTOMER NAME|
CUSTOMER NZP NO|99999999
CUSTOMER ADDRESS|CUSTOMER DATABASE|
DATE SOA ISSUED|
DATE SOA EXPIRES|NO. OF ADDRESS RECORDS|
- Save the file by going to File>Save.
