Method of paying for a service

A method of paying for a service with a ticket, said ticket comprising storage and communication means, the method comprising the steps of:

• maintaining a shadow account on said ticket;
• determining a provisional tariff for said service;
• posting said provisional tariff to said shadow account thereby generating an updated shadow account balance, said posting being in response to a registration for said service;
• generating a first data field comprising indication of said registration and ticket identification;
• transmitting said data field to a computer, said computer including storage means having ticket associated records, said records including a second data field comprising indication of an actual account;
• and
• posting an actual tariff to said actual account thereby generating an updated actual account balance.
• transmitting third data fields from a transceiver to said ticket, said third data fields comprising identification of said service and said provisional tariff;
• storing said third data fields in storage means of said ticket;
• transmitting fourth data fields from said ticket to said transceiver, said fourth data fields comprising identification of service location and said ticket identity;
• adding date and time information to said fourth data fields so as to generate modified fourth data fields
• storing said modified fourth data fields in a storage means associated with said transceiver
• transmitting said modified fourth data fields from said transceiver to said remote computer;
• calculating an actual cost based upon at least said actual tariff, service, and service location;
• booking said actual cost to said actual account;
• and
• saving said updated actual account balance associated with said ticket in a storage medium.