USPS CRID Explained: What a Customer Registration ID Is and How to Get One

If you are setting up bulk mail for the first time — a permit, Intelligent Mail barcodes, Full-Service discounts, or a letter shop that keeps asking for your “CRID” — this is the number they mean. Here is what a USPS Customer Registration ID is, how it differs from a Mailer ID, and how to get yours in a few minutes through the Business Customer Gateway.

What is a USPS CRID?

A Customer Registration ID (CRID) is a numeric code of up to 15 digits that the Postal Service generates to identify one business at one physical location. USPS puts it plainly: it is “a unique number that identifies a specific business location involved in a mailing.”

The key word is location. A company with five mailing facilities has five CRIDs, one per address. Think of the CRID as the account number USPS uses for that site — your permits, your Mailer IDs and your electronic documentation all hang off it.

CRID vs. Mailer ID (MID): the difference that trips people up

The two numbers get confused constantly, so here is the split:

• Mailer ID (MID) — a 6- or 9-digit number that is printed inside the Intelligent Mail barcode on every mail piece, tray and container. It tells USPS who prepared or owns the mail. MIDs are assigned by annual volume; every business location can get one 9-digit MID with no volume requirement.
• Customer Registration ID (CRID) — identifies the business location itself. It never appears in the barcode. It lives in your Business Customer Gateway account, on your permits, and in the electronic documentation (eDoc) that accompanies a Full-Service mailing.

The two are linked: each Mailer ID is owned by a single CRID at any given time, and each mailing permit is owned by a single CRID at any given time. Get the CRID first; everything else attaches to it.

Who needs a CRID?

• Any mailer submitting electronic documentation or claiming Full-Service Intelligent Mail benefits — USPS requires a CRID for the business location before eDoc can be submitted.
• Anyone holding a permit imprint, precanceled stamp or metered mail permit and managing it online.
• Mail owners who use a letter shop or presort bureau. Your provider needs your CRID and MID to identify you correctly as the Mail Owner in the eDoc (more on that below).

How to get your CRID

You no longer fill out a paper form and wait days. The CRID is created for you when you register your business location online:

1. Go to the USPS Business Customer Gateway and create an account (or sign in if your company already has one).
2. Enter your business name and the physical address of the location that will be doing the mailing. The CRID is tied to that address, so use the address you want on your permits and postage statements.
3. When the location is set up, USPS assigns the CRID automatically. It is shown on your account page as soon as you log in.
4. Have more than one facility? Add each as a separate business location in the Gateway; each one receives its own CRID.
5. Next, request your Mailer ID from the Gateway’s Mailer ID tool (under Mailing Services). Your MID is what your mailing software will print into the Intelligent Mail barcode.

Registration is free. If USPS needs anything further for a particular service (a permit application, for example), the Gateway tells you at that step.

How to find a CRID you already have

Log in to the Business Customer Gateway and open your account’s business locations — the CRID is listed with each address. It also appears on your postage statements and permit paperwork, and your presort or mail service provider will have it on file if they have ever prepared a mailing for you.

Mail owner vs. mail preparer — why it matters

Full-Service eDoc has to identify two parties: the Mail Owner (whose mail it is) and the Mail Preparer (who produced it). If you outsource production, give your letter shop your own CRID and MID rather than letting them submit the job under theirs. Otherwise the mailing is attributed to their location, and the Full-Service reporting and address-correction data that come back from USPS may route to them instead of to you.

Where the equipment comes in

Getting the numbers is the easy part; using them is what your software and printers do. Presort and mailing software such as Bulk Mailer SMB builds the Intelligent Mail barcode with your Mailer ID and produces the postage statements and eDoc that carry your CRID, and an address printer puts that barcode on the piece. If you would rather not run presort in-house, our web-based SortForMailers.com service does it for you. Browse the full mailing software lineup or see how every category fits together in our guide to the types of mailing equipment.

All For Mailers is a veteran-owned dealer, established in 2006 — our people have been in the mailing business since 1991 and have walked plenty of first-time mailers through the Gateway. If you get stuck, call 866-430-2874 and ask; there is no charge for a straight answer.

Quick answers

Does the CRID go in the Intelligent Mail barcode? No. The barcode carries the Mailer ID. The CRID stays in your account, permits and electronic documentation.

Is there a fee for a CRID or Mailer ID? No. Both are assigned free of charge through the Business Customer Gateway.

Do I need a separate CRID for each location? Yes — one CRID per physical business location. Permits and Mailer IDs are then owned by the CRID for that location.

Can my mail service provider get these for me? They can help you register, but the CRID should identify your business location so the mailing is attributed to you.