I ended up changing my billing address in my bank to exactly match what USPS wanted. Which worked, and was fine, but did leave me wondering what would prevent someone else from doing that with their own bank account if they wanted to change my address for some weird reason.
I thought it was common knowledge to, when moving to a new address, check one is using the correct formatting via the USPS online validator.
It's picky because "rd" is not valid. You would know this if you did a simple google search:
They managed to deliver mail to the previous address for years, so I guess they were able to figure it out.
Why do you think I’m upset? It was slightly annoying but not really a big deal, easy enough to fix, just thought it was a funny story.
To the human part: If you send a letter to a residence; and only include a street address plus 5-digit Zip code, or a street address plus city/state without a Zip code; that's enough to get the letter through. The envelope might be scanned at the originating point, and the image sent to a human for review, or the letter might make it to a post office at/near the destination, and a human will take it.
Sticking with the "rd" / "road" example: When the bank goes to mail something to you, I wouldn't be surprised if they run the address through a validation program. That validation program would catch things like "rd", replace it with the appropriate term, and also generate the Zip+4 code. What's missing is feedback from that program. So the bank might continue to have "rd" in your address, even though it's wrong.
1600 PENNSYLVANIA AVE NW
WASHINGTON DC 20500-0005