Virtual prepaid instrument transactions

A transaction processing system comprising:

• a database comprising a plurality of primary account numbers, each primary account number associated with merchant data associated with one or more merchants;
• a network interface coupled with an open-loop financial transaction network;
• and
• a processor coupled with the database and the network interface, the processor configured to:
• receive a transaction message from a merchant through the open-loop financial transaction network via the network interface, wherein the transaction message includes data elements comprising a first primary account number, a transaction amount, and merchant data;
• determine whether the first primary account number matches a primary account number of the plurality of primary account numbers in the database;
• determine whether the first primary account number is associated with a virtual prepaid instrument of the merchant based on the merchant data associated with the first primary account number in the database;
• in the event that the primary account number is associated with a virtual prepaid instrument of the merchant, determine whether the transaction amount is less than an available value amount of the virtual prepaid instrument associated with the primary account number in the database;
• and
• in the event that the transaction amount is less than an available value amount of the virtual prepaid instrument, send a transaction authorization message response to the merchant through the open-loop financial transaction network.

A method comprising:

• receiving at a virtual prepaid instrument processor a transaction message from a merchant through an open-loop financial transaction network, wherein the transaction message includes data elements comprising a primary account number, a transaction amount, a merchant ID, and a merchant category code;
• determining whether the merchant category code corresponds with an approved merchant category code;
• determining whether the merchant ID corresponds with an approved merchant ID;
• determining whether the primary account number and the merchant ID are associated with a virtual prepaid instrument;
• determining a value associated with the primary account number and the merchant;
• determining whether the transaction amount is less than the value;
• and
• sending a transaction authorization message response to the merchant through an open-loop financial transaction network.