Patent ID: 8136726

Claim:
A method for a transaction card franchise billing a transaction card applicant for the cost of a new customized transaction card as a stand-in service on behalf of a transaction card issuer, comprising the steps of: (a) sending an approved customized transaction card image of an applicant to a database of the transaction card issuer; (b) sending information about the applicant and the cost of the new transaction card to a transaction formatter; (c) reformatting the information to produce a billing authorization record and submitting the record to a clearing system of the transaction card franchiser; (d) the transaction card franchiser directly applying the cost of the new transaction card, as a stand-in service on behalf of the transaction card issuer, to an account of the applicant within a billing system of the transaction card issuer; and (e) mailing an invoice statement to the applicant including the cost of the new transaction card.