Patent ID: 7841519

Claim:
A method for adjusting a balance of a transaction account associated with an open transaction instrument purchased in a retail environment, comprising: receiving, by a computer for adjusting a balance of a transaction account, a request to debit a purchase amount from the balance of the transaction account, wherein an account code is associated with the transaction account, wherein the tracking code is associated with at least one of: the open transaction instrument, the package, and another item within the package, wherein the open transaction instrument is configured to be offered by a merchant to a consumer and the open transaction instrument is configured to be directly accessible by a consumer, wherein the open transaction instrument is configured to be generally accepted by merchants that are not directly affiliated with each other, and wherein the open transaction instrument is associated with the transaction account, and wherein the open transaction instrument has an account code associated with the open transaction instrument, wherein the account code is one of a plurality of account codes, wherein one of the plurality of account codes respectively correspond to one of a plurality of tracking codes, wherein one of the plurality of account codes is respectively associated with a transaction account and the transaction account is associated with the open transaction instrument, wherein the package contains the open transaction instrument; verifying, by the computer, that the transaction account associated with the open transaction instrument is a valid transaction account; verifying, by the computer, that the balance of the transaction account associated with the open transaction instrument is at least equal to the purchase amount; and reducing, by the computer, the balance by the purchase amount.