Portable e-wallet and universal card

A method for programming a universal card to emulate a traditional card for interacting with a terminal, wherein a transaction between the traditional card and the terminal results in the traditional card passing traditional card data to the terminal, the method comprising:

• pairing a mobile device with the universal card via a short range communication link, wherein the pairing is either permanent or temporary;
• launching an e-wallet application through which the traditional card data can be received and a user selection for programming the universal card can be received;
• receiving user selection for programming the universal card;
• programming the universal card, via the short range communication link, to emulate the traditional card using the traditional card data.

A computer readable medium comprising instructions for programming a universal card to emulate a traditional card for interacting with a terminal, wherein a transaction between the traditional card and the terminal results in the traditional card passing traditional card data to the terminal, the instructions comprising:

• instructions for pairing a mobile device with the universal card via a short range communication link;
• instructions for launching an e-wallet application through which the traditional card data can be received and a user selection for programming the universal card can be received;
• instructions for receiving user selection for programming the universal card;
• instructions for programming the universal card, via the short range communication link, to emulate the traditional card using the traditional card data.

A universal card for emulating a traditional card, wherein a transaction between the traditional card and the terminal results in the traditional card passing traditional card data to the terminal, the universal card comprising:

• a short range transceiver configured to connect to a mobile device via a short range communication link;
• and
• an data passing mechanism configured to be programmed to emulate the traditional card to pass the traditional card data to a terminal;
• wherein the universal card is configured to communicate with the mobile device to:
• receive the traditional card data from the mobile device, and
• receive instructions for the universal card to emulate the traditional card to pass the traditional card data to a terminal.

A universal card, comprising:

• a near field communications or Bluetooth interface configured to communicate with a mobile device comprising an e-wallet application;
• and
• a data passing mechanism configured to be programmed to emulate a traditional card to pass traditional card data to a terminal;
• wherein the universal card is configured to communicate with the mobile device to:
• receive the traditional card data from the mobile device, and
• receive instructions for the universal card to emulate the traditional card to pass the traditional card data to a terminal.