Patent ID: 7814018

Claim:
A method of issuing and transacting charge numbers using an electronic communications network, comprising: receiving, a plurality of valid charge numbers from an issuing bank, wherein each valid charge number is acceptable to any entity that accepts valid charge numbers that are provided to and routed by the charge settlement network for validating transactions; storing, the plurality of valid charge numbers; establishing a prepaid cash account for a user in exchange for cash; detecting a request by a user via the electronic communications network for a valid charge number; associating one of the plurality of valid charge numbers with the prepaid cash account; providing, via the electronic communications network, the associated valid charge number in response to the request; detecting, via the charge settlement network, a purchase transaction using the associated valid charge number between the user and a merchant; and authorizing the purchase transaction if a cash balance of the prepaid cash account is sufficient for a purchase amount of the purchase transaction.