Coupling Prepaid Debit Cards to Online Stored-Value Accounts

Abstract

Technologies are described herein for making the value in an online-stored value account accessible through a prepaid debit card. A payment services provider may offer general-purpose reloadable (“GPR”) cards to customers that are co-managed by the payment services provider and a traditional prepaid program manager. An integration is implemented between the payment services provider system hosting the online stored-value account and the program manager system such that the balance of the funds maintained for the online stored-value account may be used for purchases made using the GPR card.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method, comprising:
 detecting an occurrence of transaction processing in a program manager system or a payment services provider system; and   in response to detecting the occurrence of the transaction processing in the program manager system or the payment services provider system, synchronizing a balance of funds associated with a general-purpose reloadable (“GPR”) card maintained by the program manager system with a balance of funds associated with an online stored-value account maintained by the payment services provider system.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the program manager system is configured to perform settlement processing regarding purchase transactions made with the GPR card with a bank issuing the GPR card. 
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 2 , wherein the payment services provider system is configured to perform settlement processing regarding purchase transactions made through the online stored-value account with the bank. 
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the program manager system is configured to integrate with a payment network system associated with the GPR card. 
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the payment services provider system hosts a Web portal allowing a customer to manage the online stored-value account and to activate the GPR card. 
     
     
         6 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereupon which, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to:
 synchronize a balance of funds associated with a general-purpose reloadable (“GPR”) card maintained in a program manager system associated with the GPR card with a balance of funds associated with an online stored-value account maintained in a payment services provider system.   
     
     
         7 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 6 , wherein the synchronization of the balance of funds associated with the GPR card and the balance of funds associated with the online stored-value account is performed on a timed basis. 
     
     
         8 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 6 , wherein the synchronization of the balance of funds associated with the GPR card and the balance of funds associated with the online stored-value account is performed in response to transaction processing occurring in the program manager system. 
     
     
         9 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 6 , wherein the synchronization of the balance of funds associated with the GPR card and the balance of funds associated with the online stored-value account is performed in response to transaction processing occurring in the payment services provider system. 
     
     
         10 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 6 , wherein the program manager system is configured to perform settlement processing regarding purchase transactions made with the GPR card with a bank issuing the GPR card, and wherein the payment services provider system is configured to perform settlement processing regarding purchase transactions made through the online stored-value account with the bank. 
     
     
         11 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 6 , wherein the payment services provider system hosts a Web portal allowing a customer to manage the online stored-value account and to activate the GPR card. 
     
     
         12 . A system, comprising:
 at least one computing device configured to implement one or more services, wherein the one or more services are configured to keep a balance of funds associated with a general-purpose reloadable (“GPR”) card maintained by a program manager system synchronized with a balance of funds associated with an online stored-value account maintained by a payment services provider system.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the program manager system is configured to perform settlement processing regarding purchase transactions made with the GPR card with a bank issuing the GPR card. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the payment services provider system is configured to perform settlement processing regarding purchase transactions made through the online stored-value account with the bank. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the program manager system is configured to integrate with a payment network system associated with the GPR card. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the payment services provider system hosts a Web portal allowing a customer to manage the online stored-value account and to activate the GPR card. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the GPR card is purchased and initially funded by a customer at a retail outlet. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein synchronization of the balance of funds associated with the GPR card and the balance of funds associated with the online stored-value account is performed on a timed basis. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein synchronization of the balance of funds associated with the GPR card and the balance of funds associated with the online stored-value account is performed in response to transaction processing occurring in the program manager system. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein synchronization of the balance of funds associated with the GPR card and the balance of funds associated with the online stored-value account is performed in response to transaction processing occurring in the payment services provider system.