Patent ID: 7945033

Claim:
A method for purchasing and processing pre-paid calling time, comprising: electronically transferring first funds from a bank account associated with the subscriber to an account of a pre-paid call time provider using an automated teller machine; crediting to a pre-paid account associated with the subscriber a first amount of calling time corresponding to a dollar amount of the first funds, wherein the pre-paid account associated with the subscriber is an existing account; receiving a request from an originating party to initiate a call to a destination party; determining that the destination party is the subscriber; determining an amount of prepaid calling time available to the subscriber; allowing the call to be connected if prepaid calling time is available to the subscriber; transmitting a message to the subscriber comprising the amount of prepaid calling time available to the subscriber; receiving a code from the subscriber; responsive to the received code, transferring second funds from the bank account associated with the subscriber to the account of the pre-paid call time provider, the amount of the second funds transferred corresponding to a second amount of pre-paid calling time to be credited to the pre-paid account associated with the subscriber; and crediting to the pre-paid account associated with the subscriber the second amount of pre-paid calling time corresponding to a dollar amount of the second funds.