Washing steps

Step 1: Before washing

Please note that before washing you require an account with sufficient wash credits.

• Create a washing account 
• Agree to the terms of use
• Select a subscription type
• Pay the applicable subscription fee

Step 2: Preparing numbers for washing

Properly formatting lists before submitting them helps keep washing turnaround times to a minimum and reduces the likelihood you’ll be charged for washing invalid numbers. Your contact list should meet the below requirements.

Number requirements:

• be between three and seven digits, or exactly 10 digits long (including the area code, but not country codes); or 11 digits if commencing with +61 or 61
• commence with a zero (0) or a one (1)
• brackets, hyphens, dashes and spaces can be included in your number format
• Commas (,) are not allowed because they are used as delimiters by the database processing code. Commas (,) in a number will be replaced by the text string ‘{COMMA}’ before being marked invalid.

File requirements:

• be in CSV, .txt or .dat format
• only contain a single column of numbers
• be no larger than 10 MB, compressed (except for AWS/SFTP wash channel)
• be in a new file (template) each time, otherwise remaining remnants of the old file (even though deleted) will cause errors
• contain in its file name only characters from A–Z, 0–9 and underscores (_), and no spaces (for example, ABC123.csv is acceptable, but ABC 123.csv is not)
• if the file is not zipped, use a file extension of either ‘.csv’, ‘.txt’ or ‘.dat’
• if the file is zipped, use a file extension that reflects the zip format, such as ‘.zip’ for WinZip, or ‘.gz’ for GZip. (Your washed files will be returned in the same compression format.

Your contact list must not:

• include other data or data fields— for example, customer ID numbers, names and addresses, blank cells or hidden characters, or any information that shows that the data is not a number

You may also find the following information helpful:

• in Notepad, each number (record or row) must be terminated by a new line (carriage return/line feed), otherwise it will not form a single column of numbers.
• for Excel files:
• save the document as a .csv format file
• right-click on the file, go to ‘Open with’ > ‘Choose program’ and select Notepad
• open it in Notepad to review the list. By doing so, you should see a single column of numbers that are three to seven digits or 10 digits long, and that all start with a zero or one. Invalid data or data fields will be clearly visible and should be removed/amended before being submitted for washing.

Step 3: Prewash checking

If a list is submitted with numbers that do not satisfy the criteria, they will be considered invalid and will not be washed. However, invalid numbers will be counted as submitted numbers against an account-holder’s subscription. An online error-checking pre-wash process is available, giving you the opportunity to correct every uploaded list and remove invalid numbers before you’re charged.   

If errors are identified in the list uploaded for prewashing, a downloadable file will be returned that identifies the errors and enables you to reformat before resubmitting. You will be given a line number within the file, the number in error and a text description of the problem.

Step 4: Submitting

You can submit your list using the following channels:

• manually keying in numbers to the ‘Quick wash’ option on the website
• uploading via the website
• using the Automated Washing Service (AWS/SFTP)
• using Real Time Access (RTA/SOAP).

Step 5: List return

Washing will generally take from a few seconds to one minute, depending on the size of the contact list, the washing channel used, the load on the register’s system at that time and the preferred format for the returned washed list. 

Depending on the format, a returned washed list will include either:

• the numbers in the submitted contact list that are on the register (single file)
• the numbers in the submitted contact list that are not on the register (single file)
• the numbers in the submitted contact list that are invalid (single file)
• the submitted contact list, with indicators (single file); for example, Y = Yes, this number is on the register; or N = No, this number is not on the register; or I = Invalid, this number is invalid.

Step 6: Washing receipt

At the end of the washing process, the account-holder will be emailed a list-washing receipt. This will include a unique list-washing transaction ID, details of your current subscription balance and details of the washing transaction performed.

Washing history

Your washed files are available for download for up to 30 days.