Patent ID: 6913193

Claim:
A method of tracking and providing an audit trail of transactions with a smart card, comprising: storing information representing a monetary transaction consisting at least in part of a transaction amount in a permanent memo on an application of a microprocessor chip of the smart card of at least a first cardholder; reconciling a load value on the smart card by transmitting the stored transaction information from the permanent memo on the smart card application to an on-line host system; deleting the permanent memo from the smart card application; wherein storing information further comprises holding the transaction amount in escrow on the smart card application and excluding the escrowed transaction amount from the load value of the smart card until the permanent memo is deleted; wherein the escrowed transaction amount represents one of a load transaction to the smart card and an unload transaction to the smart card, and deleting the permanent memo further comprises increasing the load value on the smart card by the escrowed transaction amount if the escrowed transaction amount represents a load transaction and decreasing the load value of the smart card by the escrowed transaction amount if the escrowed transaction amount represents an unload transaction; and wherein the monetary transaction comprises an off-line transaction with the smart card.