Why Don't Banks Let Me Use A UPS Box as a Mailing Address?

A

Anon-e-Mouse

Member
Jurisdiction
Wisconsin
Why don't banks and financial institutions (most of them anyway) let me use a UPS Box as a mailing address? I got a UPS Box as a place to send my mail because it was more secure than my friont porch when I'm gone all day, and it's extremely convenient on my way to/from work. I used to have a PO Box in my home town, but due to my long commute the PO is usually closed before I leave for work and after I get home.

So I got a UPS Box at a UPS store (with longer hours than the Post Office) that is very convenient and right on my way to/from work. But banks & such won't let me use it, not even as a designated mailing address. I used my work address as a mailing address for a while but with hybrid days in / out of the office in person, not to mention that are ever changing, that doesn't work either now.

I actually get all my financial statements etc. on-line, and pay them electronically which is easiest of all. But they insist on having a mailing address where they can mail credit/debit cards, etc., that they can't e-mail to me. Why can't that be a UPS Box? Is there some law about that or something?
 
Anon-e-Mouse said:
Why don't banks and financial institutions (most of them anyway) let me use a UPS Box as a mailing address?
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Yes, it is possible to use a PO Box for some banks, but you will also have to give them a physical address AND their systems will have to support a separate mailing address from the physical address.

In fact, this has been done for my wife for over 30 years, as far as I recall.

Can I use a PO box as a physical address in the US?

No. You can use a PO Box as a mailing address but you can not live in the PO Box.

Your physical address is where you live.
 
Anon-e-Mouse said:
Why don't banks and financial institutions (most of them anyway) let me use a UPS Box as a mailing address? I got a UPS Box as a place to send my mail because it was more secure than my friont porch when I'm gone all day, and it's extremely convenient on my way to/from work. I used to have a PO Box in my home town, but due to my long commute the PO is usually closed before I leave for work and after I get home.

So I got a UPS Box at a UPS store (with longer hours than the Post Office) that is very convenient and right on my way to/from work. But banks & such won't let me use it, not even as a designated mailing address. I used my work address as a mailing address for a while but with hybrid days in / out of the office in person, not to mention that are ever changing, that doesn't work either now.

I actually get all my financial statements etc. on-line, and pay them electronically which is easiest of all. But they insist on having a mailing address where they can mail credit/debit cards, etc., that they can't e-mail to me. Why can't that be a UPS Box? Is there some law about that or something?
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It has to do with federal regulations. You should be able to provide them with a separate mailing address.
 
army judge said:
Yes, it is possible to use a PO Box for some banks, but you will also have to give them a physical address AND their systems will have to support a separate mailing address from the physical address.

In fact, this has been done for my wife for over 30 years, as far as I recall.

Can I use a PO box as a physical address in the US?

No. You can use a PO Box as a mailing address but you can not live in the PO Box.

Your physical address is where you live.
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Just a clarification. The OP is asking about a mailbox at a UPS store and not an actual PO Box at the USPS. Of course, this doesn't change anything about your post, as the same information would apply either way.
 
Zigner said:
Just a clarification. The OP is asking about a mailbox at a UPS store and not an actual PO Box at the USPS. Of course, this doesn't change anything about your post, as the same information would apply either way.
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Many business systems (these days) can immediately differentiate between a physical address versus the physical address of a mailbox service thanks to GPS usage.
 
So the auto response I usually get when I try to put in the UPS Box number as my SECONDARY mailing address (they already have my primary physical address) is something to the effect that "Commercial mailbox services are not allowed." When I put in the same mailing address and make the mailbox number look like an apartment number it says, "This is not a residential address."

Right, it isn't.

They all allow me to use the USPS PO Box number in my home town (where the PO is closed most of the hours that I'm actually in town). But not the UPS Box number.

Very frustrating!
 
Here's the real reason.

The banks and lenders and medical providers and anybody else who provides goods and services on credit want to be able to find you if you don't pay.

Same reason you are asked by medical providers who to contact in the event of an emergency. If you skip out on a bill they have your friends and relatives to hassle.
 
I think the obvious response to your question is actually: "What did the bank say when you asked them?"
 
Anon-e-Mouse said:
Why don't banks and financial institutions (most of them anyway) let me use a UPS Box as a mailing address? I got a UPS Box as a place to send my mail because it was more secure than my friont porch when I'm gone all day, and it's extremely convenient on my way to/from work. I used to have a PO Box in my home town, but due to my long commute the PO is usually closed before I leave for work and after I get home.

So I got a UPS Box at a UPS store (with longer hours than the Post Office) that is very convenient and right on my way to/from work. But banks & such won't let me use it, not even as a designated mailing address. I used my work address as a mailing address for a while but with hybrid days in / out of the office in person, not to mention that are ever changing, that doesn't work either now.

I actually get all my financial statements etc. on-line, and pay them electronically which is easiest of all. But they insist on having a mailing address where they can mail credit/debit cards, etc., that they can't e-mail to me. Why can't that be a UPS Box? Is there some law about that or something?
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which banks, if I may ask?

I used a UPS PO Box as my mailing address for three banks and one credit union in CA for years. And here in AZ as well.
 
Anon-e-Mouse said:
Why don't banks and financial institutions (most of them anyway) let me use a UPS Box as a mailing address?
Click to expand...

Have you actually conferred with "most" financial institutions to determine what they do and do not allow?

Regardless, the obvious way to get an answer to this question would be to ask the person at each bank/financial institution why that bank/financial institution won't allow it. Asking anonymous strangers who have no connection to those banks/institutions isn't likely to be productive.

Anon-e-Mouse said:
Is there some law about that or something?
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I doubt it.

Paddywakk said:
I used a UPS PO Box as my mailing address
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It should be emphasized that a UPS box and a PO box are two very different things.
 
zddoodah said:
Have you actually conferred with "most" financial institutions to determine what they do and do not allow?

Regardless, the obvious way to get an answer to this question would be to ask the person at each bank/financial institution why that bank/financial institution won't allow it. Asking anonymous strangers who have no connection to those banks/institutions isn't likely to be productive.



I doubt it.



It should be emphasized that a UPS box and a PO box are two very different things.
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Exactly. I know the difference and have used both. OP stated his box is at a UPS store.
 
Paddywakk said:
Exactly. I know the difference and have used both. OP stated his box is at a UPS store.
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I think the point that was being made is that a "PO Box" offered by the USPS is not the same as a UPS mailbox. UPS mailboxes are not a "PO Box".
 
welkin said:
Why the paranoia about the mail delivery? Have you had mail stolen? Just get a secured mailbox that requires a key to open.
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Or a real USPS post office box. If you are using it for dealing with the public, you declare your identity to the USPS.
 
Okay, here's the deal. I own a home in Rural Small Town "A" which used to be a 75 minute commute (each way) from my job. Why do I live so far away? Well, I never really planned on that but unemployment was very high in my rural small town, the highest in my state in fact for a long time. Because of increased traffic etc. that 75 minute commute is now a 2 hour commute. That's 4 hours on the road every day to get to an 8 hour/day job. Although I actually did that for several years, it was not a lifestyle I could maintain. So I got a tiny room in a cheap motel in the town where I work. At first I just rented it one night at a time when I was too exhausted to do a 2-hour drive before I got home, and remember, that 2 hours assumes perfect road conditions. I live in a state that gets lots of snow and other bad weather, and there were times when that 2-hour drive actually took closer to 4 hours. After a while, instead of renting the room 1 night at a time I started renting it by the week, so I'd drive to it on Sunday night & stay there until Friday night when I'd drive back home. But my local Post Office, where I did have a PO Box was never open when I was in town. So my mail piled up & I didn't get it except when I took off either a Monday morning or a Friday afternoon from work so I could get to my PO Box before the PO closed. I eventually started renting my cheap motel room by the month instead of by the week. And then there was Covid. I have health conditions that make me high risk. So that got into the mix too. Except when I have to go to work, where they have mandatory Covid testing (must have a negative test result every 2 weeks) plus masks & social distancing, I almost never leave my little 12x12 room. Yes I'm afraid of getting Covid because if I did, because of pre-existing health conditions, it would probably kill me.

Why don't I move to the town where I work? Because it is too expensive. I own my home outright in town "A" but even if I sold it at full market value and used the entire amount for a new home in the town where I work it would barely be enough for a down payment, and then I'd still have higher mortgage payments than I could afford for years to come. Much higher than the monthly rent I pay in the cheap motel for my 12x12 room.

Why don''t I quit my job and get a different one? Well by now I'm vested in the pension plan at my current job and I don't want to lose that. Defined benefit pension plans aren't exactly common any more and I need something more than just Social Security and a brand new new 401(k) to live on when I retire. So I need to keep the pension plan.

Why don't I rent out my house? I've thought about it but I don't really want to be an absentee landlord and I don't want somebody else trashing my house. It is where I plan to live after I retire.

Why don't I get an apartment in the town where I work & just get my mail there? Again, housing costs - I can't afford that. I can afford a 12x12 room in a cheap motel which is what I have. It is the same motel where the city sometimes puts up homeless people. It's a dirt cheap motel and not exactly a great place to call my permanent address. In all honesty I don't want to give up my permanent home address where I've lived for more than 30 years as my home address, and i don't want to give the cheap motel out as my address.

There is a UPS store which is right off the highway, just a 1-block detour, on my way to my work. It is open from 6 a.m. until 8 p.m., which means I can get my mail there easily without taking off from work to do it.

I already haven't voted in the last several elections because I'm afraid if I go to town "A" where I'm registered to vote somebody will accuse me of election fraud and say I don't really live there any more. My state has gone crazy trying to root out election fraud and I just don't want to get caught up in a political fight about election fraud & wind up in jail or something. I would lose my job for that. I have to pass random background checks to keep my job and I don't want to jeopardize that.

I have often wondered how rich people with multiple homes manage to keep one of them as their permanent address and vote there and pay taxes there etc., even if they're physically in other places a lot of the time. But I'm not a rich person and I have no idea how they manage that.

At any rate I feel like some kind of an outlaw already. I'm really not a bad person or a criminal or trying to commit any kind of fraud. I just don't want to call the cheap motel with a 12x12 room my permanent address. I want my home in town "A" to be my permanent address even if I'm not there often these days. I intend to live there until I die, but for right now I just logistically can't.

Okay? I'm sure nobody wanted to know all that but I'm frustrated by all the responses that are acting like I'm some kind of an idiot or don't know what I'm talking about, or lying, or some other such thing.
 
Then keep your permanent address in town A and have your mail forwarded to the motel or the UPS box. The USPS will forward mail for up to a year at a time.

You can find out more about USPS forwarding service on their website.
 

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