Short-paid reconciliation systems and methods

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for enabling third parties, such as authorized vendors, to reconcile short-paid adjustment requests initiated by service providers such as, for example, the United States Postal Service, in response to customer non- or underpayment for services rendered. In an embodiment, a method includes the steps of storing a short-paid adjustment request from an initiator, identifying a source for the short-paid adjustment request, generating a request to a VBI meter system for a short-paid adjustment request based on the source identified, storing the VBI meter system response to the short-paid adjustment request, and generating a file to the initiator based on the VBI meter system response.

1 . A method for reconciling at least one short-paid adjustment request received from an initiator, comprising the steps of:
 storing at least one short-paid adjustment request from the initiator;   identifying at least one source for the short-paid adjustment request;   generating a request to a value bearing item (VBI) meter system for a short-paid meter adjustment based on the at least one identified source;   storing the VBI meter system response to the short-paid meter adjustment request; and   generating at least one file to the initiator based on the VBI meter system response to the short-paid meter adjustment request.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of validating the short-paid adjustment request prior to or in conjunction with the source identification. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one source is selected from the group consisting of: a user account, a meter serial number, a meter account, and a funding account. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the VBI meter system response is at least one of a VBI, a non-VBI, adjusted meter register values, evidence of a short-paid adjustment or an error. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of determining the status of the short-paid adjustment request following the step of receiving the response to the short-paid meter adjustment request. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the file includes at least one of evidence of at least one meter adjustment performed in response to the short-paid meter adjustment request or at least one invalid short-paid adjustment request. 
     
     
         7 . A method for reconciling at least one short-paid adjustment request received from an initiator, comprising the steps of:
 generating a request to a VBI meter system for a short-paid meter adjustment based on a prior short-paid meter adjustment request;   storing the VBI meter system response to the short-paid meter adjustment request;   determining the status of the short-paid adjustment request; and   generating at least one file to the initiator based on the response to the short-paid meter adjustment request.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the prior short-paid meter adjustment request is at least one of a partial adjustment, no adjustment or a system error. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the response to the short-paid meter adjustment request is at least one of a full adjustment, a partial adjustment, no adjustment, a validation error or a system error. 
     
     
         10 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium, comprising:
 processor-executable instructions stored therein and configured to cause a processor to:
 initiate storing at least one short-paid adjustment request from an initiator; 
 initiate identifying at least one source for the short-paid adjustment request; 
 initiate generating a request to a VBI meter system for a short-paid meter adjustment based on the at least one identified source; 
 initiate storing the VBI meter system response to the short-paid meter adjustment request; and 
 initiate generating at least one file to the initiator based on the VBI meter system response to the short-paid meter adjustment request. 
   
     
     
         11 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 10 , wherein the VBI meter system response is one of a VBI, a non-VBI, an adjusted register value, evidence of a short-paid adjustment, a non-response or an error. 
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 10 , wherein the processor-executable instructions further include instructions configured to initiate causing the processor to validate the short-paid adjustment request prior to or in conjunction with the source identification. 
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 10 , wherein the processor-executable instructions further includes instructions configured to initiate causing the processor to determine the status of the short-paid adjustment request following the step of receiving the response to the short-paid meter adjustment request. 
     
     
         14 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium, comprising:
 processor-executable instructions stored therein and configured to cause a processor to:
 initiate generating a request for a short-paid meter adjustment based on a prior short-paid meter adjustment request; 
 initiate storing a response to the short-paid meter adjustment request; 
 initiate determining the status of the short-paid adjustment request; and 
 initiate generating at least one file based on the response to the short-paid meter adjustment request. 
   
     
     
         15 . A system for reconciling at least one short-paid adjustment request received from an initiator comprising:
 a value bearing item (VBI) meter system for generating evidence of a short-paid adjustment; and   a processor coupled to the VBI meter system, the processor configured to:
 process and identify one or more sources of the short-paid adjustment request; 
 initiate a short-paid meter adjustment request for a value adjustment to the VBI meter system based on at least one short-paid adjustment request; and 
 generate at least one file for the initiator based on the VBI meter system response to the short-paid meter adjustment request. 
   
     
     
         16 . A system for reconciling at least one short-paid adjustment request received from an initiator comprising:
 a network;   a value bearing item (VBI) meter system coupled to the network for generating evidence of a short-paid adjustment; and   a processor coupled to the network, the processor configured to:   process and identify one or more sources of the short-paid adjustment request;   initiate a short-paid meter adjustment request for a value adjustment to the VBI meter system based on at least one short-paid adjustment request; and   generate at least one file for the initiator based on the VBI meter system response to the short-paid meter adjustment request.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the network is configured to facilitate at least one of:
 communication of a request for a short-paid meter adjustment request;   transmitting a response to the short-paid meter adjustment request including at least one of a full adjustment, a partial adjustment, no adjustment, a validation error or a system error; and   communication of the at least one file to the initiator based on the VBI meter system response to the short-paid meter adjustment request.   
     
     
         18 . (canceled) 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the processor is further configured to validate the short-paid adjustment request. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the processor processes responses from the VBI meter system before generating the at least one file for the initiator. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 16 , further comprising at least one additional processor for validating, sourcing, accounting and processing the short-paid adjustment request to the VBI meter system. 
     
     
         22 - 41 . (canceled)