Stored-value card

A stored-value card is a payments card with a monetary value stored on the card itself, not in an external account maintained by a financial institution. Stored-value cards differ from debit cards, where money is on deposit with the issuer, and credit cards which are subject to credit limits set by the issuer. Another difference between stored-value cards and debit and credit cards is that debit and credit cards are usually issued in the name of individual account holders, while stored-value cards may be anonymous, as in the case of gift cards. Stored-value cards are prepaid money cards and may be disposed when the value is used, or the card value may be topped up, as in the case of telephone calling cards or when used as a fare card.

The term closed-loop stored-value card means the funds and or data are metaphorically 'physically' stored on the card, in the form of binary-coded data. With prepaid cards the data is maintained on the card issuer's computers. The value associated with the card can be accessed using a magnetic stripe embedded in the card, on which the card number is encoded; using radio-frequency identification (RFID); or by entering a code number, printed on the card, into a telephone or other numeric keypad. In contrast, open-loop stored value cards are credit and debit payment cards such as MasterCard Contactless, Visa payWave, American Express ExpressPay and Discover Zip.

There is no common name for stored-value cards, which are country or company specific. Names for stored-value cards include Mondex in Canada, Chipknip in the Netherlands, Geldkarte in Germany, Quick in Austria, Moneo in France, Proton in Belgium, FeliCa in Japan, EZ-Link and NETS (CashCard and FlashPay) in Singapore, Octopus card in Hong Kong, SUBE card in Argentina, and Touch 'n Go and MyRapid Card in Malaysia.

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Wikipedia