System and method for generating postage

A method for generating postage in a postage generating system including a plurality of devices communicating via a network, the method comprising the steps of:

• receiving, at a postage server, a request to generate an indicium from a device used by a customer that is connected to the network;
• retrieving, by the postage server, an account associated with the customer from a database having an immutable transaction ledger maintained by a transaction server;
• locking, by the transaction server, the account associated with the customer after the account has been retrieved by the postage server such that no modifications to data in the account can be made;
• generating, by the postage server, an indicium data record for the requested indicium, and sending at least a portion of the indicium data record to a hardware security module server;
• performing, by the hardware security module server, cryptographic operations on one or more parts of the at least a portion of the indicium data record to generate the indicium, the cryptographic operations not including any accounting functions to account for the indicium in the account associated with the customer;
• sending, by the hardware security module server to the postage server, the generated indicium;
• sending, by the postage server, the generated indicium to the device used by the customer for printing by the device;
• sending, by the hardware security module server to an integrity monitor server, a transaction log for the generated indicium;
• receiving, by the integrity monitor server, the transaction log from the hardware security module server;
• storing, by the integrity monitor server, the transaction log in a transaction database maintained by the integrity monitor server;
• updating by the postage server, the account associated with the customer based on the generated indicium received from the hardware security module server,
• unlocking, by the transaction server, the account associated with the customer after the account has been updated and sending the updated account to the transaction server;
• sending, by the transaction server, an account transaction log to the integrity monitor server;
• receiving, by the integrity monitor service, the account transaction log from the transaction server;
• determining, by the integrity monitor server, if there is a transaction log stored in the transaction database that corresponds to the account transaction log received from the transaction server;
• if it is determined by the integrity monitor server that there is a transaction log stored in the transaction database that corresponds to the account transaction log received from the transaction server, removing the transaction log stored in the transaction database that corresponds to the account transaction log received from the transaction server;
• and
• if it is determined by the integrity monitor server that there is not a transaction log stored in the transaction database that corresponds to the account transaction log received from the transaction server, performing a mismatched transaction error process for the account associated with the customer.

A method for generating an indicium that evidences payment of postage through use of a postage generating system, the postage generating system including a plurality of servers coupled to a network, the method comprising:

• receiving, by a postage server, a request to generate an indicium from a device, the request including account data;
• retrieving, by the postage service, an account associated with the account data from a transaction server, the transaction server maintaining a database having an immutable transaction ledger maintaining a cryptographic hash chain of postage credit and debit transactions for the account;
• locking, via the transaction server, the account associated with the account data, thereby preventing changes to be made to the account data in the database;
• creating, via the postage server, an indicium data record for the requested indicium and sending the indicium data record to a hardware security module server;
• generating, by the hardware security module server, a hashed-based message authentication code via cryptographic functions based on the indicium data record, the cryptographic functions not including any accounting functions to account for the indicium in the account associated with the account data;
• returning, via the hardware security module server, the hashed-based message authentication code to the postage server for delivery to the device;
• sending, via the hardware security module server, a transaction log for the generated hashed-based message authentication code to an integrity monitor server;
• storing, by the integrity monitor server the transaction log in a transaction database maintained by the integrity monitor server;
• updating, via the postage server, the account data of the account based on the hashed-based message authentication code received from the hardware security module server;
• sending, via the postage server, the updated account data to the transaction server;
• unlocking, via the transaction server;
• the account and updating the account to include the updated account data;
• sending, via the transaction server, an account transaction log to the integrity monitor server;
• receiving, by the integrity monitor server, the account transaction log from the transaction server;
• determining, by the integrity monitor server, if there is a transaction log stored in the transaction database that corresponds to the account transaction log received from the transaction server;
• if it is determined by the integrity monitor server that there is a transaction log stored in the transaction database that corresponds to the account transaction log received from the transaction server, removing the transaction log stored in the transaction database that corresponds to the account transaction log received from the transaction server and not locking the account;
• printing, via the device, the indicium;
• and
• if it is determined by the integrity monitor server that there is not a transaction log stored in the transaction database that corresponds to the account transaction log received from the transaction server, performing a mismatched transaction error process for the account associated with the device.

A method for generating postal indicia in a postage generating system without using a postal security device, the method comprising the steps of:

• receiving, at a postage server, a large volume of requests to generate a postal indicium for each request;
• maintaining, by a transaction server, a database having an immutable transaction ledger;
• retrieving from the transaction server, by the postage server, an account associated with each request from the immutable transaction ledger of the database;
• generating, by the postage server, an indicium data record for each requested indicium;
• sending, by the postage server, at least a portion of the indicium data record for each requested indicium to a hardware security module server;
• performing, by the hardware security module server, cryptographic operations on at least a portion of the indicium data record to generate each respective requested indicium, the cryptographic operations not including any accounting functions by the hardware security module server to account for each respective requested indicium in the account associated with each request;
• sending to the postage server, by the hardware security module server, each generated indicium;
• sending to an integrity monitor server, by the hardware security module server, a transaction log for each generated indicium;
• receiving, by the integrity monitor server, the transaction log for each generated indicium from the hardware security module server;
• storing, by the integrity monitor server, the transaction log for each generated indicium in a transaction database maintained by the integrity monitor server, wherein storing includes real-time processing of streaming large amounts of data per second;
• updating, by the postage server, the account associated with each request based on each generated indicium received from the hardware security module server;
• sending, by the postage server, each updated account to the transaction server;
• sending, by the transaction server, an account transaction log for each generated indicium to the integrity monitor server;
• receiving, by the integrity monitor server, the account transaction log for each generated indicium from the transaction server;
• determining, by the integrity monitor server, if for each generated indicium there is a transaction log stored in the transaction database that corresponds to the account transaction log received from the transaction server;
• if it is determined by the integrity monitor server that there is a transaction log stored in the transaction database that corresponds to the account transaction log received from the transaction server, removing the transaction log stored in the transaction database that corresponds to the account transaction log received from the transaction server;
• and
• if it is determined by the integrity monitor server that there is not a transaction log stored in the transaction database that corresponds to the account transaction log received from the transaction server, performing a mismatched transaction error process for the respective account.

A method for generating an indicium that evidences payment of postage, the method comprising:

• maintaining, at a transaction server, a database of a plurality of accounts, the database having an immutable transaction ledger of payments of postage for each of the plurality of accounts;
• receiving, at a postage server, a request to generate the indicium from a shipper, wherein in response to the request, the postage server retrieves from the transaction server an account associated with the shipper from the plurality of accounts, generates an indicium data record for the account, and sends the indicium data record to a hardware security module server;
• and
• receiving, at the hardware security module server, the indicium data record, wherein, in response to receiving the indicium data record, the hardware security module server cryptographically generates the indicium without performing any accounting function.