Patent ID: 8719153

Claim:
A method, performed by a computer system having a network of terminals, of transferring funds from a first payment cardholder account associated with a first cardholder to a second payment cardholder account associated with a second cardholder, the method comprising the steps of receiving an indication from said first cardholder at a first merchant terminal that a transfer of funds is required to said second cardholder, wherein the indication contains an identifier that may be used to obtain the card details of the second payment cardholder from a database of cardholders and their associated identifiers, and wherein the first cardholder is prevented from accessing the card details of the second cardholder; generating a first payment card transaction at the first merchant terminal between a first merchant and said first cardholder, wherein said first payment card transaction is a first transfer, debiting said funds from said first payment cardholder account and crediting said funds to said first merchant; generating a second payment card transaction at a second merchant terminal between a second merchant and said second cardholder, wherein said second payment card transaction is a second transfer, debiting said funds from said second merchant and crediting said funds to said second payment cardholder account; and communicating said first and second payment card transactions to a host across said network for processing payments corresponding to the first and second payment card transactions, thereby debiting said first cardholder account and crediting said second cardholder account.