• PAYMENT OPTIONS & PARTIAL PAYMENTS • SETUP GUIDE

How to Restrict Payment Options by Postal Codes and Pincodes

By Rivio Support Team
3 min read

How to Restrict Payment Options by Postal Codes and Pincodes

Logistics providers and courier partners often have varying Cash on Delivery coverage zones within the same country. While metro cities might have reliable cash remittance networks, rural or remote areas may be entirely unserviceable or suffer from unacceptable non-delivery rates.

With Rivio COD & Partial Payments, you can create precise Postal Code Allowlists (eligible areas) and Denylists (excluded areas) for every payment option, including support for convenient numeric ranges.

In this guide, you will learn how to configure postal code eligibility for your Cash on Delivery rules.

Before You Begin

Before setting postal code restrictions, ensure that:

  • You have installed Rivio COD & Partial Payments.
  • You have obtained the list of serviceable or non-serviceable postal codes / pincodes from your delivery courier.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. From your Shopify admin, open Apps → Rivio COD & Partial Payments.

2. Go to Features → Payment options.

3. Click on the payment option you want to restrict (or click Add payment option to create a new one).

SC-COD-021
Payment options list highlighting an individual option rule card to edit

4. Scroll down to the Payment option eligibility section.

5. Configure your postal code rules using either or both of the following fields:

  • Eligible postal codes: The option will only be offered to shoppers whose delivery address matches this list.
  • Excluded postal codes: The option will be hidden for shoppers whose delivery address matches this list.
SC-COD-022
Payment option eligibility showing Eligible postal codes and Excluded postal codes text areas
TIP

Separate individual codes with commas (e.g. 10001, 10002, 10003). For continuous numeric ranges, use a hyphen (e.g. 301001-301050). Up to 1,000 characters are supported per field.

6. Review the live calculation in the Preview card on the right side of the screen.

7. Click Save in the top-right corner.

TIP

Speed Up Address Entry with Postal Autofill: Under Features → COD verification → Verification → Where you deliver, you can toggle Fill city and state from postal code to ON. When shoppers type their postal code, Rivio automatically populates their city and state, reducing form fatigue and preventing typos. (Note: Regions with non-standard routing systems, like Ireland and Singapore, are excluded from automatic lookup and prompt shoppers to type city names directly).

Configuration Settings & Options

Field Input Format Behavior Example
Eligible postal codes Comma-separated or hyphenated Whitelist: Option appears only in these areas. 90210, 90211, 10001-10020
Excluded postal codes Comma-separated or hyphenated Blacklist: Option is hidden in these areas. 99501-99950 (Alaska remote)

Example Scenario

Excluding High-Risk Courier Zones in Mexico

An online footwear retailer in Guadalajara delivers across Mexico. However, their logistics partner charges a 50% penalty on Cash on Delivery parcels sent to specific non-metro postal codes in Oaxaca and Chiapas. The store owner enters those postal code ranges (e.g., 68000-68150, 29000-29150) into the Excluded postal codes box. When customers in those zones order shoes, COD is hidden, prompting them to pay securely with credit card or SPEI bank transfer.

Important Notes & Limitations

NOTE

Postal code rules are evaluated against the postal code string entered by the customer on the address step of the Rivio popup.

IMPORTANT

If you enter values in both Eligible postal codes and Excluded postal codes, the customer's delivery postal code must be inside the eligible list AND NOT inside the excluded list to qualify.

Troubleshooting

The option is hidden even though the customer entered an eligible postal code

  • Possible Cause: Formatting mismatch (such as spaces in UK/Canadian alphanumeric codes, e.g. SW1A 1AA vs SW1A1AA).
  • How to Fix:

1. Rivio strips spaces automatically for matching, but ensure both formatted and unformatted variations are included if issues arise.

2. Verify that the order cart total meets your Minimum and Maximum cart value limits.

Related Guides

Need Help?

Need assistance structuring postal code ranges for your store? Our integration team is ready to help!