System and methods for enhanced authorization of prepaid cards

An interchange network system comprising:

• an interchange network configured to:
• route communications between a plurality of merchants and a plurality of issuing banks, the communications formatted according to a set of proprietary communications standards promulgated by the interchange network for exchange of financial transaction data and settlement of funds between financial institutions that are members of the interchange network;
• and
• provide, to an authorization computing device, transaction data for one or more transactions by a prepaid card of the prepaid cards, the transaction data extracted from the communications processed by the interchange network;
• and
• the authorization computing device used for enhancing authorization of prepaid cards, wherein each of the prepaid cards has an initial value unknown to the interchange network and the authorization computing device, wherein the authorization computing device comprises a processor communicatively coupled to a memory device, and wherein the processor is configured to:
• build a transaction history table stored in a database for each of the prepaid cards searchable by a personal account number (PAN) of the corresponding prepaid card, the transaction history table for the prepaid card including at least a transaction amount and a transaction date for each transaction initiated with the prepaid card including declined transactions for insufficient funds;
• receive, using the interchange network, a first authorization request for a first payment transaction between a cardholder and an originating merchant initiated using the prepaid card, wherein the first authorization request includes the PAN of the prepaid card and a first transaction amount for the first payment transaction;
• query the transaction history table using the PAN of the prepaid card;
• determine, based on the querying of the transaction history table, whether there are sufficient funds associated with the prepaid card for the first transaction amount;
• and
• notify the originating merchant of the determination of whether there are sufficient funds associated with the prepaid card by sending a message to the originating merchant over the interchange network.

At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having first and second sets of computer-executable instructions embodied thereon for enhancing authorization of prepaid cards, wherein each of the prepaid cards has an initial value unknown to an interchange network and an authorization computing device,

• wherein when the first set of computer-executable instructions is executed by one or more processors implementing the interchange network, the first set of computer-executable instructions causes the one or more processors to:
• route communications between a plurality of merchants and a plurality of issuing banks, the communications formatted according to a set of proprietary communications standards promulgated by the interchange network for exchange of financial transaction data and settlement of funds between financial institutions that are members of the interchange network;
• and
• provide, to the authorization computing device, transaction data for one or more transactions by a prepaid card of the prepaid cards, the transaction data extracted from the communications processed by the interchange network;
• and
• wherein when the second set of computer-executable instructions is executed by the authorization computing device having at least one processor coupled to at least one memory device, the second set of computer-executable instructions causes the at least one processor to:
• build a transaction history table stored in a database for each of the prepaid cards searchable by a personal account number (PAN) of the corresponding prepaid card, the transaction history table for the prepaid card including at least a transaction amount and a transaction date for each transaction initiated with the prepaid card including declined transactions for insufficient funds;
• receive, using the interchange network, a first authorization request for a first payment transaction between a cardholder and an originating merchant initiated using the prepaid card, wherein the first authorization request includes the PAN of the prepaid card and a first transaction amount for the first payment transaction;
• query the transaction history table using the PAN of the prepaid card;
• determine, based on the querying of the transaction history table, whether there are sufficient funds associated with the prepaid card for the first transaction amount;
• and
• notify the originating merchant of the determination of whether there are sufficient funds associated with the prepaid card by sending a message to the originating merchant over the interchange network.