Patent ID: 7316350

Claim:
A computerized method for managing electronically stored value accounts, the method comprising: storing at a host computer system a plurality of stored value customer accounts that each comprise a unique identifier, wherein each of said stored value customer accounts is associated with a retail entity and associated with a presentation instrument purchased at a retail site, wherein the stored value customer accounts may be used to purchase goods offered for sale at the retail sites; receiving at the host computer system from a point of sale device requests to activate at least some of the accounts, wherein the requests to activate comprise the unique identifiers and values that are associated with the identifiers; receiving at the host computer system a request to purchase a good from one of the retail entities, wherein the request includes a cost of the good and the identifier, and debiting the stored value customer account by the cost of the good; receiving at the host computer system a request to transfer value from one of the customer accounts to another one of the customer accounts; and electronically transferring the requested value between the accounts.