Patent ID: 7082416

Claim:
A method for making purchase transactions over the world wide web, comprising the steps of: purchasing a card having a unique identification code and a predetermined cash balance; activating an account associated with the card by providing only the identification code and not any personally identifying information to a card service system; selecting one or more goods or services offered by a seller through a web-site; providing the identification code of the card to the seller who then transmits the identification code to the card service system for verification, wherein the verification by the card service system includes the steps of determining if the identification code is associated with a valid and active account by searching a database of activated accounts, and if there is sufficient cash balance in the account to purchase the selected goods or services; and transmitting an approval code to the seller if the identification code is valid and a sufficient cash balance is available in the associated account to purchase the selected goods or services, or transmitting a denial code to the seller if the identification code is determined invalid or there is insufficient cash balance in the associated account to purchase the selected goods or services; and debiting the purchase price of the selected goods or services from the cash balance of the account when an approval code is transmitted.