Patent ID: 7054842

Claim:
A method for issuing both a non-physical virtual card and a physical card to a cardholder, wherein both the virtual card and the physical card may be used for conducting transactions against a funded value, the method comprising: receiving at a processing system a request to receive both a physical card and a virtual card, along with a funded value that is associated with both the physical card and the virtual card; using the processing system to first electronically issue a virtual card to a cardholder, the virtual card comprising an identifier and an associated database record of a stored value, wherein the virtual card is active upon issuance; and transmitting from the processing system to a physical card issuing system information used to issue a physical card to the cardholder, wherein the physical card includes a card body and an identifier that is different from the virtual card identifier, and wherein the physical card is in an inactive state until the physical card is activated by linking of the physical card identifier to the database record of the stored value; whereby the virtual card may be used for transactions by the cardholder prior to receipt and activation of the physical card, and whereby once activated, the physical card shares attributes, including any unused funded value, with the virtual card.