In one aspect, a computerized method useful for handwriting recognition (HWR) on physical mail envelopes addressed to a user includes the step of scanning a physical mail item to obtain a digital image of the address-side of the physical mail item. The method includes the step of identifying that at least one of a return address region or a recipient address region of the address-side of the physical mail item. The method includes the step of determining that the at least one of the return address region or a recipient address region comprises a handwritten text. The method includes the step of providing a data store of known senders to the recipient address. The data store of known senders comprises a data store of return address information in a known sender handwriting samples and a data store of receiver address information in the known sender handwriting samples. The method includes the step of providing a data store of a receiver's identity and address. The method includes the step of creating a first training set including the historical data store of known senders. The method includes the step of training the neural network in a first stage using the first training set. The method includes the step of creating a second training set for a second stage of training including the data store of a receiver's identity and address. The method includes the step of training the neural network in a second stage using the second training set. The method includes the step of integrating the neural network into an HWR functionality.