Intermediary payment system and method for gaming

A method of operating an intermediary payment system, comprising:

• establishing at a financial institution an account controlled by an intermediary entity, the account being associated with an open loop financial system, the intermediary entity establishing closed loop financial system sub-accounts for each of a plurality of consumers and each of a plurality of gaming devices that accept payment via the closed loop financial system;
• receiving at the intermediary entity a request from one of the consumers that results in funds being transferred from an open loop account belonging to the one of the consumers to the account controlled by the intermediary entity, the intermediary entity crediting the funds to the closed loop financial system sub-account belonging to the one of the consumers;
• receiving at the intermediary entity an indication from one of the gaming devices that the one of the consumers wagered a given value of funds within the closed loop financial system;
• debiting the given value of funds from the closed loop financial system sub-account belonging to the one of the consumers and crediting the given value of funds to the closed loop financial system sub-account belonging to the one of the gaming devices;
• and
• transferring the given value of funds from the sub-account belonging to the one of the gaming devices to an open loop financial system account belonging to a casino that operates the one of the gaming devices.

A method of transferring funds between an open loop financial system and a closed loop financial system of a casino, comprising:

• issuing an open loop card and a casino closed loop card to a consumer, the open loop card being associated with an open loop account and the casino closed loop card being associated with a casino closed loop account that can be used to wager money within the casino;
• receiving a request from the consumer, initiated from a mobile communications device, to transfer a selected amount of money from the open loop account to the casino closed loop account;
• transferring the selected amount of money from the open loop account to the casino closed loop account;
• receiving a notification that the consumer wagered an amount of money at a selected gaming machine within the casino;
• debiting the casino closed loop account by an amount equivalent to the value of money wagered;
• and
• crediting a virtual casino closed loop account by the amount equivalent to the value of money wagered,
• wherein the casino closed loop account and the virtual casino closed loop account are provided for by an intermediary payment system that has an associated open loop account and that operates the casino closed loop account and the virtual casino closed loop account as sub-accounts of the associated open loop account.

A method of operating an intermediary payment system, comprising:

• establishing at a financial institution an account controlled by an intermediary entity, the account being associated with an open loop financial system, the intermediary entity establishing closed loop financial system sub-accounts for each of a plurality of consumers and each of a plurality of transactional entities that accept payment via the closed loop financial system;
• receiving at the intermediary entity a request from one of the consumers that results in funds being transferred from an open loop account belonging to the one of the consumers to the account controlled by the intermediary entity, the intermediary entity crediting the funds to the closed loop financial system sub-account belonging to the one of the consumers;
• receiving at the intermediary entity an indication from one of the transactional entities that the one of the consumers purchased a given value of goods or services within the closed loop financial system;
• debiting the given value from the closed loop financial system sub-account belonging to the one of the consumers and crediting the given value to the closed loop financial system sub-account belonging to the one of the transactional entities;
• and
• transferring the given value from the sub-account belonging to the one of the transactional entities to an open loop financial system account belonging to the one of the transactional entities.

A method of transferring funds between an open loop financial system and a closed loop financial system, comprising:

• issuing an open loop card and a closed loop card to a consumer, the open loop card being associated with an open loop account and the closed loop card being associated with a closed loop account that can be used to purchase goods or services from a selected provider of the goods and services;
• receiving a request from the consumer, initiated from a mobile communications device, to transfer a selected amount of money from the open loop account to the closed loop account;
• transferring the selected amount of money from the open loop account to the closed loop account;
• receiving a notification that the consumer used the closed loop card to purchase goods or services for a particular value of money;
• debiting the closed loop account by an amount equivalent to the value of money;
• and
• crediting a closed loop account of the selected provider of the goods or services by an amount equivalent to the value of money,
• wherein the closed loop accounts are provided for by an intermediary payment system that has an associated open loop account and that operates the closed loop accounts as sub-accounts of the associated open loop account.