Noncontrolling Interests (Preferred Stockholders' Equity in Subsidiaries)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012
Noncontrolling Interest [Abstract]
Noncontrolling Interests (Preferred Stockholders' Equity in Subsidiaries)	Noncontrolling Interests (Preferred Stockholders’ Equity in Subsidiaries) Pitney Bowes International Holdings, Inc. (PBIH), a subsidiary, has 300,000 shares, or $300 million, of outstanding perpetual voting preferred stock (the Preferred Stock) held by certain institutional investors. The holders of the Preferred Stock are entitled as a group to 25% of the combined voting power of all classes of capital stock of PBIH. All outstanding common stock of PBIH, representing the remaining 75% of the combined voting power of all classes of capital stock, is owned directly or indirectly by the company. The Preferred Stock is entitled to cumulative dividends at a rate of 6.125% through 2016 after which it becomes callable and, if it remains outstanding, will yield a dividend that increases by 50% every six months thereafter. No dividends were in arrears at September 30, 2012 or December 31, 2011. There was no change in the carrying value of noncontrolling interests during the period ended September 30, 2012 or the year ended December 31, 2011.

The entire disclosure for noncontrolling interest in consolidated subsidiaries, which could include the name of the subsidiary, the ownership percentage held by the parent, the ownership percentage held by the noncontrolling owners, the amount of the noncontrolling interest, the location of this amount on the balance sheet (when not reported separately), an explanation of the increase or decrease in the amount of the noncontrolling interest, the noncontrolling interest share of the net Income or Loss of the subsidiary, the location of this amount on the income statement (when not reported separately), the nature of the noncontrolling interest such as background information and terms, the amount of the noncontrolling interest represented by preferred stock, a description of the preferred stock, and the dividend requirements of the preferred stock.

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