Staging preview — not published. This page describes a format TRAKWIND Scan reads, so it stays unindexed until the release is confirmed.
PostNL KIX
The Dutch postal barcode — four-state bars, stripped to the essentials.
- Type
- Four-state postal
- Used by
- PostNL, in the Netherlands
- Notable
- No start, stop or checksum characters
- Off by default
- Enable it under Settings → Scanning engine
KIX uses the same four bar shapes as the Royal Mail code it derives from, but drops the start, stop and checksum characters. The reasoning is that the symbol is always printed in a known position on a known layout, so the framing those characters provide is not needed — and leaving them out makes the code shorter.
It carries the address information PostNL needs to route and deliver, which means an inbound Dutch mailpiece arrives already carrying a machine-readable destination.
The absence of a checksum is worth knowing about: there is no built-in verification, so the quality of the read matters more than it does with formats that can check themselves.
Where you meet it
Dutch mail.
Can a phone scan a KIX code?
Only with an engine that implements four-state postal symbologies, which most phone scanners do not. TRAKWIND Scan reads KIX — switch it on under Settings → Scanning engine.
How to scan it with your phone
- 1
Install Barcode & QR Scanner Keyboard from Google Play and enable it as a keyboard.
- 2
Open Settings → Scanning engine and choose TRAKWIND Scan.
- 3
Tap the barcode key on the keyboard and point the camera at the code.
This format ships switched off. Turn it on in the same Scanning engine screen before you scan.
The value is typed into whatever field you were already in — a spreadsheet, an ERP screen, a web form. There is nothing to integrate.
Read it with the phone in your pocket
Free on Google Play. No licence, no extra hardware, and nothing to connect.