Abstract:
The invention makes it easier for the post office to calculate accurately terminal dues for business reply mail by providing information to the post regarding each piece of business reply mail that crosses an international border. The foregoing is accomplished by charging a sender&#39;s meter for business reply mail that is being deposited with a first carrier; transmitting the funds charged to the meter to a meter data center; transmitting from the meter data center to a first carrier meter payment center the funds attributable to the first and second carriers; and transmitting from the first meter payment data center to the second meter payment data center the funds attributable to the second carrier.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   Reference is made to commonly assigned copending patent application Ser. No. 10/674,135 filed herewith entitled “Method For Postage Evidencing For The Payment Of Terminal Dues” in the names of Erik Monsen, Ian A. Siveyer, Marc Morelli, Yakup J. Igval, John C. Harmon and Ronald P. Sansone; Ser. No. 10/674,134 filed herewith entitled “Method For Postage Evidencing With Cross-Border Mail Tracking Capability and Near Real Time for Terminal Dues Reconciliation” in the names of Ronald P. Sansone and Erik Monsen; and Ser. No. 10/673,794 filed herewith entitled “Method For Postage Evidencing For The Payment Of Terminal Dues Using Radio Frequency Identification Tags” in the names of Ronald P. Sansone and Erik Monsen. 
   FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The invention relates generally to the field of mailing systems and, more particularly, to methods for paying for international business reply mail. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   The Universal Postal Union has a complex system that administers contracts between member post offices relating to terminal dues paid between and among different post offices. Terminal dues are the payments made between national postal administrations to cover the costs of handling and delivering international mail. Rates are established by the Universal Postal Union, and through bilateral and multilateral agreements. Typically, a post office will charge another post office for the delivery of mail to a recipient within its jurisdiction. For instance, if mail is sent from the United States to the United Kingdom, the United States post office will deliver the mail to the Royal Mail, and the Royal Mail will deliver the mail to the recipient. At the end of a predetermined time, the United States post office and the Royal Mail will tabulate, by weight, all of the mail each post office delivered for the other post office and calculate how much money one post office owes to the other post office. 
   Business mailers prepare and process various types of business mail utilizing inserters to collate the sheets and stuff the same into envelopes. Invoices, advertisements for the purchase of goods and/or services, prepaid post cards as well as business reply, i.e., business reply envelopes, business reply cards. Business reply sometimes is placed in outer envelopes mailed by business mailers to customers. Recipients of business mailers&#39; mail may enclose a check and invoice and/or an advertisement order form in the business reply mail and mail it via the United States Postal Service (USPS) to the business mailer. Business mailer recipient customers may also mail the enclosed business reply card back to the business mailer. 
   The USPS allows a business mailer to receive first class business reply permit mail from their customers and pay postage and a fee only for the mail returned to the mailer from the original distribution of the mailing. Postage and fees are collected when the mailer picks up the permit business reply mail at their local USPS office. 
   One of the disadvantages of the above procedure is that it does not accurately determine the services performed by each post office. 
   An additional disadvantage of the prior art is that a postage meter could not be used for the payment of international business reply mail. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   This invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art by making it easier for various post offices to calculate and collect accurately terminal dues by providing information to each post office regarding each piece or parcel of mail that crosses an international border. The invention also permits the post offices to calculate terminal dues for international business reply mail by utilizing a postage meter and a data center. 
   The foregoing may be accomplished by having a mail piece mailed in the United States containing a metered business return mail piece insert that is delivered to a destination in the United Kingdom, where the mailer&#39;s postage meter will place a USPS postal indicia on the mail piece for that portion of the delivery cost that is attributable to the United States post office and a Royal Mail replica postal indicia on the mail piece for that portion of the delivery cost that is attributable to the Royal Mail. The mail piece will also contain an indication on the front of the mail piece that the mail piece contains a business reply mail piece. The mailer&#39;s postage meter will also notify a data center located in the United States that the mail piece has been metered for the correct international mail values for mail being deposited in the United States and delivered in the United Kingdom. As the mail approaches the United States border, the face of the mail is scanned and interpreted, and the interpreted data is sent to a United States data center which transmits data to a United States meter payment data center that accumulates the United States postage payment for that meter and periodically sends the payments to the carrier&#39;s and/or post office bank. The United States meter data center also informs the United Kingdom meter data center of the future delivery of the previously metered mail to the United Kingdom along with a report of the amount of postage attributable to the Royal Mail, the unique identification that identifies the mail and notification that future business reply mail may be sent from the United Kingdom. When mail arrives in the United Kingdom, it is scanned so that the mail unique identification and amount of postage on the face of the mail will be interpreted and forwarded to the United Kingdom data center. 
   At the United Kingdom data center, the data will be stored and in turn forwarded to the Royal Mail meter payment data center, which notifies the Royal Mail to continue to deliver the mail to the recipient. The United Kingdom data center will inform the Royal Mail payment center that the mail is in the United Kingdom, and that it will receive funds from the United States meter payment data center. The Royal Mail data center also informs the United States data center of the delivery of the mail piece, providing confirmation to the original mailer (sender), and also “closes the loop” between the two international post offices and the sender/recipient. The Royal Mail meter payment center accumulates funds and periodically sends the funds to the Royal Mail bank. 
   When the recipient opens the mail and decides to return the enclosed business reply mail to the mailer (sender), the recipient deposits the business reply mail with the Royal Mail. The Royal Mail sorts and routes the business reply mail to the postal border exit office. At the postal border exit office, the business reply mail is scanned, and the payment data is extracted from the business reply mail and sent to the United Kingdom data center. 
   At the Royal Mail data center, the data will be stored and in turn forwarded to the United Kingdom meter payment data center, which notifies the Royal Mail to continue to process the business reply mail and to collect the postage indicated in the Royal Mail indicia affixed to the business reply mail. The Royal Mail data center will inform the Royal Mail payment center that the mail is leaving the United Kingdom, and that it will receive funds from the United States meter payment data center for the amount of postage indicated in the Royal Mail indicia affixed to the business reply mail. The Royal Mail data center also informs the United States data center of the delivery of the business reply mail, providing confirmation to the original mailer (sender), and also “closes the loop” between the two international post offices and the sender/recipient. The United Kingdom meter payment center accumulates funds and periodically sends the funds to the Royal Mail bank that it receives from the meter payment data center. 
   The business reply mail will be delivered to the United States where a postal entry scanner reads the USPS indicia on the business reply mail. The read data will be sent to the USPS meter data center. The USPS meter data center will receive and store the data and initiate the amount of payment indicated in the USPS postal indicia in the business reply mail to the United States meter payment data center, which in turn sends funds to the USPS bank. The business reply mail moves to the postal sorting and routing process and ultimately delivered to the original mailer. At the same time that the sortation process is happening, indicia data is being cancelled and forwarded to the original mailer as a status update of the incoming business reply mail. 
   An advantage of this invention is that it provides more accurate reporting and checking of the amount of international mail. Thus, each post office receives the correct revenue for the amount of mail that it processes. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1A  is a drawing of international mail containing international business reply mail with a USPS postal indicia and a replica Royal Mail postal indicia affixed to the front of the mail; 
       FIG. 1B  is a drawing of international business reply mail containing a USPS post office postal indicia and a replica Royal Mail postal indicia affixed to the front of the business reply mail; 
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating the process of metering international mail so that terminal dues will be paid; 
       FIG. 3  is a block diagram of postage meter  130  or personal computer meter  131  of  FIG. 2 ; 
       FIG. 4  is a drawing of the information stored in buffer  154 A for mail  21  and mail  41 ; 
       FIG. 5  is a drawing of the information stored in buffer  166  for mail  21  and  41 ; 
       FIG. 6  is a block diagram illustrating the process of the payment of terminal dues for mail piece  21 ; and 
       FIG. 7  is a block diagram illustrating the process of the payment of terminal dues for mail piece  41 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   Referring now to the drawings in detail, and more particularly to  FIG. 1A , the reference character  21  represents mail, i.e., letter, flat, package, that has a recipient address field  22 , a sender address field  23 , USPS postal indicia  20 , and Royal Mail postal indicia  31 . Indicia  20  includes the price for United States postage  24 , the date  25  that indicia  20  was affixed to mail  21 , the place  26  from which mail  21  was mailed, a postage meter number  27 , an eagle  28 , an indication  29  that the mail piece  21  contains international business reply mail, a two-dimensional bar code  30 , and a unique number  19 . Royal Mail postal indicia  31  includes bar code  32 , meter number  18 , and the price of United Kingdom postage  17 . Mail  21  may also include a number  16  that indicates the maximum number of authorized business reply mail that the mailer is willing to accept and the USPS will debit to the mailer&#39;s postage meter. For instance, number  16  may have two parts, the first of which number, 054, indicates the batch number and the second part, i.e., 8000, indicates the maximum number in the batch. 
   It would be obvious to one skilled in the art that mail  21  may not be sent to Mr. John Smith, and Mr. John Smith receives business reply mail  41  in a magazine or business reply mail  41  within a product. 
     FIG. 1B  is a drawing of international business reply mail containing a United States post office postal indicia and a replica Royal Mail postal indicia affixed to the front of the business reply mail. This type of mail is used for international mail that is deposited with the Royal Mail in the United Kingdom and delivered to a mailer in the United States who pays for the postage due the Royal Mail and the USPS with the mailer&#39;s postage meter when the business reply mail is scanned in the United Kingdom by the Royal Mail. Business reply mail  41  has a recipient address field  42 , a sender address field  43 , Royal Mail postal indicia  44 , United States postal indicia  50  and unique identification code  60 . Royal Mail postal indicia  44 , includes bar code  45 , meter number  46 , the price of United Kingdom postage  47 . United States postal indicia  50  includes the price for United States postage  51 , the expiration date  52  that the mailer that owns the postage meter will pay for returned business reply mail the place  53  from which mail  41  was metered, a postage meter number  54 , an eagle  56 , an indication  57  that the mail piece  41  is return international business reply mail, a two-dimensional bar code  58  and an indication  61  that postage will be paid on use. Mail piece  41  may also include a number  15  that is an indexed count of the number of authorized business reply metered mail that the mailer is willing to accept, and the USPS will debit the mailer&#39;s postage meter account. For instance, number  15  has two parts, the first part of which number, 054, indicates the batch number, and the second part, 7990, indicates the indexed count in the batch. 
   It would be obvious to one skilled in the art that business reply mail  41  may be produced by interfacing PC meter  131  ( FIG. 2 ) with a high-speed digital printer commonly used in the direct marketing printing industry. 
     FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating the process of metering international mail so that terminal dues will be paid. Electronic postage meter  130  or personal computer meter  131  may be used to print indicia  20  and  31 , bar codes  30  and  31  and unique number  18  ( FIG. 1 ). During a communication between postage meter  130  or personal computer meter  131  with data center  132 , it will be indicated that meter  130  or meter  131  printed indicia  20  and  31 , bar codes  30  and  31  and unique number  18 . Meters  130  and/or  131  will also transmit all of the information contained in indicators  20  and  40  to data center  132 . Data center  132  will transmit the information contained in indicia  20  and  31 , bar codes  30  and  31 , and unique number  19  to mail records controller  133 . The operation of meters  130  and  131  will be described in the description of  FIG. 3 . Mail records controller  133  will transmit the information it receives from data center  132  to data base  102 , and mail piece processing controller where records are created, capturing the issued unique number  19  for a particular meter  130  or  131  account number. The record is a proof of validity of postal indicia  20  and  31  having an issued unique number  19  for a particular meter, and the proof is provided when data base  102  is consulted. 
   Postal terminal dues processor  140  is coupled to archive  108 , national, international and terminal dues data base  141 , finance  142 , and archives  108  and  113 . Processor  140  will poll archive  108  and archives  113  in other lands  111  (United Kingdom, France, German, Japan, etc.) and utilize data base  141  to determine the value of the mail processed by the receiving countries from the sending countries. Then processor  140  will determine how much money each country will receive for delivering mail  21 . The amounts of money will be described in the description of  FIG. 4 . At agreed upon intervals, finance  142  will issue terminal dues statements to all participating countries and arrange for the transmission of funds to the countries&#39; post offices. 
   In step  104 , the mail is collected and rated at various post office recording stations using data capture techniques and processed by the accepting post office in step  105 . As part of the mail accepting procedures in step  105 , indicia  20  and  31 , bar codes  30  and  31  and unique number  19  are examined and compared to data in data base  102  to determine whether the indicia  20  and  31 , bar codes  30  and  31  and unique number  19  used are legitimate. When unique number  19  is issued for postal indicia  20  and  31 , the issuance of unique number  18  is reported to the “all issued indicia records national data base”  102 , where a record is created, capturing the issued unique number  19  for a particular mailer account number. The record is a proof of validity of postal indicia  20  and  31  having an issued unique number for a particular mailer account number, and the proof is provided when data base  102  is consulted. 
   In the acceptance process, a code reader is used to identify the unique number  18  and account number on indica  20  and  31 . It is understood that, if any portion of indicia  20  and  31 , bar codes  30  and  31  and unique number  18  is produced with an invisible ink, a special light source will be needed to make the indicia  20  and  31 , bar codes  30  and  31  and unique number  18  visible to the code reader. The identified indicia  20  and  31 , bar codes  30  and  31  and unique number  19  is reported to data base  102 , and a proof of validity of indicia  20  and  31 , bar codes  30  and  31  and unique number  18  is requested. If data base  102  has a record showing the issuance of the unique number  19  for the particular meter account serial number used and that the unique number  19  has not been canceled, then indicia  20  and  31  are considered legitimate. In that case, indicia  20  and  31  have passed the verification process, and the mail is accepted for further processing, with indicia  20  and  31  being canceled in step  105 . It is preferred that the cancellation mark is produced with a visible ink in a manner that a “canceled” postal indicator is easily distinguishable from an unused one, and that a “cancelled” postal indicator” will still be able to be read. 
   When indicia  20  and  31  bearing a unique number  19  for a particular user meter account serial number are canceled in step  105 , a request is made to data base  102  to alter the record that is specifically related to the unique number  19  being canceled. The altered record will contain the date and time of cancellation, the cost of the selected services derived from the weighing of the mail, and no longer provide a proof of validity when data base  102  is consulted. The cost for mailing the mail determined in step  105  will be charged to the mailer&#39;s meter  130  or  131 . The mailer cost information will be transmitted to data center  132  via data base  102  and controller  133 . 
   However, if the acceptance procedures in step  105  fail to yield a proof of validity of indicia  20  and  31 , the mail will be sent to rejected mail process  106  where the mail will be returned to the sender or placed in the dead mail file. 
   The mail that step  105  determines has legitimate indicia  20  and  31  is sent to step  107  for internal sorting and routing from place to place. Step  107  will note the date and time the mail is at each step in the process. The foregoing information will be sent to archive  108  and mail processing controller  134 . Then the physical mail is delivered nationally in step  109  or delivered internationally in step  110 . Nationally, at the recipient&#39;s delivery post office, the mail will be scanned during the last sorting process where the date and time of sorting as well as other information identifying the mail, i.e., unique number  19 , will be captured and stored in archive  108 . At the last facility before the mail is transferred internationally in step  110 , the mail will be scanned where the date and time of sorting as well as other information identifying the mail, i.e., unique number, will be captured and stored in archive  108 . 
   At this point, the physical mail will be delivered to other lands  111 . Then the mail will go to step  112  for sorting, routing and acceptance in the country in which the recipient is located. Step  112  will note the date and time the mail is at each step in the process. The foregoing information will be sent to archive  113 . Then the physical mail is delivered nationally in step  114 . At the international recipient&#39;s delivery post office, the mail will be scanned during the last sorting process where the date and time of sorting as well as other information identifying the mail, i.e., unique number, will be captured and stored in archive  113 . 
     FIG. 3  is a block diagram of postage meter  130  or personal computer meter  131  of  FIG. 2 . The first step takes place at decision block  150 . Decision block  150  determines whether or not the next mail is present. If block  150  determines that the next mail is not present, the program will go back to the input of block  150 . If block  150  determines that the next mail is present, the next step will be step  151 . Step  151  obtains all mail rating parameters, from the operator of meters  130  or  131  and/or another external source, i.e., how much does the mail weigh, the size of the mail, where is the mail going, what is the level of mail service, the contents of the mail, does the mail contain international business reply mail, etc., and places the mail rating parameters in buffer  154 A. Next, in step  153 , the delivery location of the mail and the final carrier are obtained from the operator of meters  130  or  131  and/or another external source and stored in buffer  154 A. Then in step  155 , all desired special services are obtained from the operator of meters  130  or  131 . The data from step  155  is stored in buffer  154 A. In step  156 , the correct route and fees are verified with data center  132 , i.e., the information obtained from buffer  154 A is verified with remote data center  132 . 
   Step  165  stores the valid mail route and fees file and any new bar codes and indicia graphics it receives from data center  132 , and then transmits the valid mail route and fees file and indicia graphics to decision block  152 . Decision block  152  determines whether the operator accepts the information from data center  132 . If the operator does not accept the information, the program goes to block  65 . Block  65  clears buffer  154 A, and then the program goes back to block  150 . If the operator accepts the information, the valid mail route file is transferred to buffer  166 . Step  157  reads the valid mail route and fees file in buffer  166 . Step  158  takes the valid mail route and fees file and computes and buffers all fees, carrier bar codes required indicia and special service graphics plus makes a note of the maximum number of business reply mail pieces that may be returned, i.e., number  16  ( FIG. 1 ) and the expiration date  52  ( FIG. 1B ) with buffers  154 B,  154 C and  154 D, i.e., the total fee for mail  21  ( FIG. 1A ) would be $2.20 with $0.66 payable to the Royal Mail, and $1.54 going to the United States Postal Service. It would be obvious to one skilled in the art that the payment to the Royal Mail may be made in United States Dollars or United Kingdom currency at the prevailing exchange rate. Step  159  composes the indicium in route, sequenced order and stores the above information in print buffer  154 E. In step  160 , the print images stored in buffer  154 E are printed on mail  21 C ( FIG. 1A ) and mail  41  ( FIG. 1B ), and then the image data field are sent to data center  132  to produce payment records. The next step is performed by decision block  161 . Decision block  161  determines whether the image has been printed on mail  21  and mail  41 , and whether the image data fields have been sent to data center  132 . If the images have not been printed on mail  21  and  14 , and the image data fields have not been sent to data center  132 , the process will go back to the input of decision block  161 . If the images have been printed on mail  21  and  41 , and the image data fields have been sent to data center  132 , buffers  154 A- 154 E and  166  will be cleared in block  16 , and the next step will be performed by decision block  150 . 
     FIG. 4  is a drawing of the information stored in buffer  154 A ( FIG. 3 ) as buffered mail rating data elements  200  for mail  21  and mail  41 . Item  201  indicates the mailer&#39;s identification, i.e., the mailer&#39;s postage meter serial number PB 1234567. Item  202  indicates the zip code in which the meter is registered, namely, 06926. Item  203  indicates the code for the country of the first carrier, namely, the United States. Item  204  indicates the code for the first carrier, namely, the United States Postal Service. Item  205  indicates the service classification of the mail, namely, first class mail. Item  206  indicates the type of mail, for example, international mail. Item  207  indicates special services which is international business reply mail outbound. Item  208  indicates the contents of mail  21 , namely, contains international business reply mail and the identification number of the contents of mail  21 , i.e., the identification number of mail  41 , i.e., 0542990. Item  209  indicates the size of the mail  21 , namely, 4×11×0.25. Item  210  indicates the weight of mail  21 , namely, 2 ounces. Item  211  indicates the weight of mail  41 , namely, one ounce. Item  212  indicates the number of mail  41  inside mail  21 , namely, 1. Item  213  indicates the destination of mail  41 , namely, the United States. Item  214  indicates the expected business reply response factor for mail  41 , namely, 4%. Item  215  indicates the second carrier country for mail  21 , namely, the United Kingdom, and the first carrier country for mail  41 , namely, the United Kingdom. Item  216  indicates the second country carrier for mail  21 , namely, the Royal Mail, and the first carrier country for mail  21 , namely, the United Kingdom. Item  217  indicates the second country and carrier for mail  41 , namely, the United States and the USPS. Item  218  indicates the batch number and batch quantity for mail  41  that appears on mail  21 , namely, 0548000. Item  219  indicates the expiration date for accepting mail  41 . 
   Items  201 - 219  are transmitted to remote data center  132  where they are processed. Data center  132  returns a validated mail route file complete with computed postal fees which are stored in buffer  166 . 
     FIG. 5  is a drawing of the information stored in buffer  166  as buffered mail route data elements  220  for mail  21  and mail  41 . Item  221  indicates the mailer&#39;s identification, i.e., the mailer&#39;s postage meter serial number PB 1234567. Item  222  indicates the zip code in which the meter is registered, namely, 06926. Item  223  indicates the code for the country of the first carrier, namely, the United States. Item  224  indicates the code for the first carrier, namely, the United States Postal Service. Item  225  indicates the service classification of the mail, namely, first class mail. Item  226  indicates the type of mail, for example, international mail. Item  227  indicates special services which is international business reply mail outbound. Item  228  indicates the contents of mail  21 , namely, contains international business reply mail and the identification number of the contents of mail  21 , i.e., the identification number of mail  41 , i.e., 0547990. Item  229  indicates the size of the mail  21 , namely, 4×11×0.25. Item  230  indicates the weight of mail  21 , namely, 2 ounces. Item  231  indicates the weight of mail  41 , namely, one ounce. Item  212  indicates the number of mail  41  inside mail  21 , namely 1. Item  232  indicates the destination of mail  41 , namely, the United States. Item  233  indicates the expected business reply response factor for mail  41 , namely, 4%. Item  234  indicates the second carrier country for mail  21 , namely, the United Kingdom and the first carrier country for mail  41 , namely, the United Kingdom. Item  235  indicates the second country carrier for mail  21 , namely, the Royal Mail. Item  237  indicates the second country and carrier for mail  41 , namely, the United States and the USPS. Item  238  indicates the batch number and batch quantity for mail  41  that appears on mail  21 , namely, 054 8000. Item  239  indicates the expiration date for accepting mail  41 . Item  240  indicates the outbound meter payment plus the terminal dues payment to the United States Postal Service for mail  21 , namely, $1.54, plus the terminal dues payment to the Royal Mail of $0.66 for a total payment of $2.20. Item  241  indicates the inbound reply mail meter payment to Royal Mail and the USPS, i.e., $1.00 plus $0.54 for a total of $1.54. Item  242  indicates the computed account set aside for the USPS and Royal Mail, i.e., $0.04 and $0.021 for a total of $0.061. 
     FIG. 6  is a block diagram illustrating the process of the payment of terminal dues for mail  21  ( FIG. 1A ). When mail is mailed in the United States and delivered to a destination in the United Kingdom, the mailer&#39;s postage meter  130 ,  131  will place a United States Postal Indicia  20  ( FIG. 1A ) on mail  21  for that portion of the delivery cost that is attributable to the United States post office and a Royal Mail postal indicia  31  ( FIG. 1A ) on the mail  21  for that portion of the delivery cost that is attributable to the Royal Mail. Meter  130 ,  131  will also notify remote data center  132  that is located in the United States that the mail has been metered for the correct international mail values for mail being deposited in the United States and delivered in the United Kingdom. Mail  21  will be sorted and routed by the United States Postal Service in block  107 . As the mail approaches the United States border  173 , the face of mail  21  is scanned and interpreted by carrier scanner  178 , and the interpreted data is sent to a United States remote data center  132  which transmits data to a United States meter payment data center  170  that accumulates the United States postage payment for that meter and periodically sends the payments to the United States post office bank  172 . The United States remote meter data center  132  also informs the United Kingdom meter data center  184  of the future delivery of the previously metered mail  21  to the United Kingdom along with a report of the amount of postage attributable to the Royal Mail and the unique identification number or code  19  ( FIG. 1A ), that identifies the mail. When mail arrives in the United Kingdom, it is scanned at Royal Mail entry scan  180  so that the mail unique identification number or code  19  and amount of postage on the face of the mail will be interpreted and forwarded to the United Kingdom meter data center  184 . At the United Kingdom data center  184  the data will be stored and in turn forwarded to the Royal Mail meter payment data center  185 , which notifies the Royal Mail  181  to continue to deliver the mail to the recipient  183 . At the same time, the Royal Mail data center  184  notifies the United States Postal Service meter data center  132  of the confirmation of delivery of the mail, and the United States Postal Service meter data center  132  can provide mail tracking information to the original sender. The United Kingdom data center  184  will inform the Royal Mail Payment center  185  that the mail is in the United Kingdom, and that it will receive funds from the United States meter payment data center  170 . The United Kingdom meter payment center  185  accumulates funds and periodically sends the funds to the Royal Mail bank  186 . 
     FIG. 7  is a block diagram illustrating the process of the payment of terminal dues for mail  41 . When mail  41  is mailed in the United Kingdom and delivered to a destination in the United States, the mailer&#39;s postage meter  130 ,  131  will have previously placed a United Kingdom Postal Indicia  44  ( FIG. 1B ) on mail  41  for that portion of the delivery cost that is attributable to the United Kingdom post office, i.e. $1.00, and a United States postal indicia  50  ( FIG. 1B ) on the mail  41  for that portion of the delivery cost that is attributable to the USPS, i.e., $0.54. There will also appear on mail  41  a number  15  that is an indexed count of the number of authorized business reply mail that the mailer is willing to accept and the expiration date  52  (Oct. 31, 2003) that the mailer who owns the postage meter  130 ,  131  will pay for the returned international business reply mail. The mailer&#39;s postage meter  130 ,  131  may have reported an expected business reply response factor for mail  41 , i.e. 4%, of the number  16  ( FIG. 1A ). It would be obvious to one skilled in the art that the expected business reply response factor may be any number greater than 0% and equal to or less than 100%. Thus, for batch  054  the Royal Mail and the USPS may expect to process (8000) (0.04)=320 mail  41  by Oct. 31, 2003. Thus, meter  130 ,  131  may be charged a set aside of ($1.54) (320)=$492.80 for the expected mailing of mail  41 . Meter  130 ,  131  will also notify remote data center  132  that is located in the United States that mail  41  has been metered for the correct international mail values for international business reply mail being deposited in the United Kingdom and delivered in the United States and that meter  130 ,  131  has been debited for the calculated set aside of $492.80. Postage meter  130 ,  131  will receive a credit if less than 320 mail  41  is processed on or before Oct. 31, 2003 and postage meter  130 ,  131  may be charged additional funds for the processing of 8,000−320=7,680 mail  41  on or before Oct. 31, 2003. 
   Mail  41  will be sorted, routed and transferred by the Royal Mail in 181, and the delivery status of mail  41  will be sent to United Kingdom data center  184 . Any mail  41  that has an expiration date  52  that is after Oct. 31, 2003, will be outsorted in block  187 . Mail  41  that is not outsorted will be sent to Royal Mail postal border scanner  180  where mail  41  will be scanned. Scanner  180  will read the unique identification number  60  and the amount of postage on the face of mail  41  so that number  60  and the amount of postage will be interpreted and forwarded to United Kingdom Data Center  184 . At the same time, the United Kingdom Data Center  184  notifies the USPS meter data center  132  that mail  41  is arriving. As mail  41  approaches the United States border  173 , the face of mail  41  is scanned and interpreted by postal entry scanner  178 , and the interpreted data is sent to United States Postal Service meter data center  132 , which transmits data to USPS meter payment data center  170  and United Kingdom Data Center  184 . Data Center  184  transmits this data to United Kingdom meter payment data center  185 . Mail  41  will be processed by the postal sort and deliver process  107  and delivered to the owner of meter  130 ,  131 . Data Center  132  will inform meter  130 ,  131  that mail  41  has been processed. United States data center  132  will maintain the accuracy of the terminal dues rates by accessing terminal dues data center  175 . Data center  170  accumulates the United States postage payment for that meter and periodically sends the payments to the USPS bank  172 . The United States meter payment data center  170  also informs the United Kingdom of the delivery of mail  41  to the United States along with a report of the amount of postage attributable to the Royal Mail and the unique identification number or code  60  ( FIG. 1B ) that identifies the mail. Data Center  170  also periodically sends funds to United Kingdom meter payment data center  185 . Data center  185  accumulates the funds and periodically sends the funds to Royal Mail bank  186 . 
   The above specification describes a new and improved method for paying for international business reply mail. It is realized that the above description may indicate to those skilled in the art additional ways in which the principles of this invention may be used without departing from the spirit. Therefore, it is intended that this invention be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.