Patent ID: 6904419

Claim:
A method for auditing postage dispensing transactions at a postal facility, the method comprising the steps of: receiving in a secure processor based device a request to dispense an amount of postage; updating, in response to the request, accounting data within the secure processor based device to account for the amount of postage; cryptographically securing the updated accounting data in the secure processor based device; dispensing the amount of postage by generating and applying the cryptographically, secured, updated accounting data to a mailpiece; receiving cash value for the amount of postage dispensed; sending from the secure processor based device to an administrative computer a cryptographically secure message including the updated accounting data; obtaining and comparing, at the administrative computer, the updated accounting data from the secure message with the cash value received and previous updated accounting data received from a previous secure message from the secure processor based device, and determining if any inconsistencies exist based on the comparing; and obtaining and analyzing, at a funds management computer, the updated accounting data from the mailpiece and the updated accounting data from the secure message and determining if any inconsistencies exist based on the analyzing.