Importance

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Abstract

One or more methods and apparatus for facilitating monetary and commercial transactions is disclosed. One or more embodiments of the invention comprise a method of a customer establishing a financial account with an account provider, the account having features particularly useful in facilitating monetary and commercial transactions. This method comprises the steps of providing customer data to the account provider, establishing an account type, assigning a value limit for the account, depositing funds in the financial account in an amount not exceeding the value limit, assigning the financial account an expiration date after which access to the financial account is generally prohibited by a user, and generating an account signature for use in establishing later entitlement to access the financial account. One or more embodiments of the invention comprise an account which is particularly useful in facilitating monetary and commercial transactions. The financial account has monetary funds associated therewith which may be debited from the account, an expiration date associated therewith after which access to the account is prevented, a maximum funds value comprising the maximum funds which may be associated with the account, and account data for use in establishing entitlement to access the account. One or more other embodiments of the invention comprise methods and apparatus for securely storing data.

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First Claim