Patent ID: 8600871

Claim:
A financial card management method, comprising: issuing a financial card to a cardholder by a financial services institution, the financial card being operable in either a prepaid mode or a credit mode, wherein the financial card, the prepaid mode, and the credit mode are each associated with a same single account; receiving input, from a user at a website of the financial services institution, wherein the input includes: a revocable selection of one of either the prepaid mode or the credit mode for future transactions made using the financial card, and a restriction on types of purchases which may be made using the credit mode, wherein the selection of the one of either the prepaid mode or the credit mode precludes use of the other of the prepaid mode or the credit mode until another selection is received at the computing device; authorizing a transaction in the selected mode, wherein the transaction is made by the cardholder using the financial card; receiving funds for the account at the computing device; and applying the funds to the account, using the computing device, in accordance with a rule.