Stored-value card

This means no network access is required by the payment collection terminals as funds can be withdrawn and deposited straight from the card.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury manages three stored-value card programs: EZpay, EagleCash, and Navy Cash.

The German Geldkarte and the Austrian Quick card can also be used to validate a customer's age at cigarette vending machines.

Closed system prepaid cards are not subject to the USA PATRIOT Act, as they generally cannot identify a customer.

When a cardholder redeems all but an insignificant portion of the card on merchandise, that amount is generally lost and is a windfall gain for the issuing merchant.

In addition to the District of Columbia, the states in the US that require a license include Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming.

However, these limits generally do not apply to money leaving a country in non-cash forms such as on stored-value cards.

There is concern that stored-value cards can be used for money laundering, that is, moving offshore funds derived from criminal activities such as drug trafficking.

[4] For example, in the United States, it is legal for anyone to enter or leave the country with money that is stored on cards, and (unlike cash in high amounts) does not have to be reported to customs or any other authority.

Some members of the U.S. Congress are considering creating laws that would require travelers crossing, entering, or leaving the country to report these cards.

[5] The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of the U.S. Department of the Treasury has published a notice of proposed rulemaking on stored-value cards in the June 28, 2010 edition of the Federal Register.

The proposed rules would require sellers of prepaid cards to register with the government and keep records on transactions and customers.