Patent ID: 7295658

Claim:
A method for providing a prepaid telephone calling card service using a call processor including an account database which has account records corresponding to a plurality of prepaid accounts, said account records including a plurality of access codes, each of which is associated with one of said accounts, each of said accounts including a balance associated therewith, said method comprising the steps of storing a plurality of registered telephone numbers in said database, each of said registered telephone numbers being associated with one of said accounts; connecting to said call processor a telephone call originated from a first telephone number; determining whether said first telephone number corresponds to one of said registered telephone numbers; if said first telephone number corresponds to said one of said registered telephone numbers, connecting said call to a second telephone number provided during said call; and transferring said balance of a first one of said accounts to said balance of a second one of said accounts, wherein said transferring step includes the steps of receiving an entry of an access code, checking whether said received access code corresponds to one of said access codes and, if said received access code corresponds to said access code of said first one of said accounts, adding said balance of said first one of said accounts to said balance of said second one of said accounts and setting said balance of said first one of said accounts to zero.