Patent ID: 7885878

Claim:
A method for activating a payment account at a point of sale device, the method comprising: providing a payment instrument having a first identifier, a second identifier, at least one storage device, and a radio frequency device, wherein: the first identifier and the second identifier are associated with an unique account record in a database; the first identifier is physically stored on the at least one storage device selected from a group consisting of: a magnetic strip, a bar code, and both the magnetic stripe and the barcode; the second identifier is physically stored on the radio frequency device; the first identifier is not associated with the second identifier; and the first identifier cannot be used to access funds in the payment account; receiving from the point of sale device an activation request at a processing system to activate the payment account, the activation request comprising the first identifier that was read from the at least one storage device by the point of sale device; determining the unique account record associated with the payment account using the first identifier; updating the unique account record to indicate that the payment account has been activated; and transmitting from the processing system an activation response that the payment account has been activated; wherein the unique account record is also determinable using the second identifier; receiving from another point of sale device a request to debit an amount from the payment account, the request comprising the second identifier that was read from the radio frequency device using the other point of sale device; wherein the first identifier is accessible through a reader selected from the group consisting of a magnetic stripe reader and a bar code reader; and wherein the second identifier is accessible through a radio frequency identification reader.