Financial services payment vehicle and method

An apparatus comprising:

• a financial services card account including an associated cardholder name, an account limit, a billing address and an expiration indicator, the expiration indicator representing a date on which a financial services account card for the financial services card account will not be usable, the billing address being associated with an issuer of the financial services card, the cardholder name having a first part representing a selection by a cardholder having an actual name and a second part representing a selection by an entity other than the cardholder having an association with the issuer of the financial services account, the second part being usable as a surrogate surname of the cardholder, so that when the cardholder makes a purchase and pays a merchant for the purchase via the financial services card account, the cardholder will use the cardholder name instead of the actual name and a payment for the purchase will be made without identifying the actual name of the cardholder.

An apparatus comprising:

• a database stored on a computer readable media, the database including records associated with a plurality of active financial services card accounts, one of the financial services card account records having a name representing a cardholder for purposes of using the account, the name having a first part selected by the cardholder and a second part selected by a second party unrelated to the cardholder.

A method comprising:

• adding a cardholder name to a financial services card, the cardholder name comprising at least two parts, a first part being an identifier selected by a cardholder who will receive the financial services card and a second part being characters selected by an entity other than the cardholder the first and second parts together substituting for an actual name of the cardholder;
• and
• providing the financial services card containing the cardholder name for ultimate delivery to the cardholder.

A method of administering financial services card accounts comprising:

• registering a financial services account in a cardholder name, the cardholder name comprising a first part, related to the cardholder, and a second part, identifying a party unrelated to the cardholder.

A method comprising the steps performing the functions of:

• a using step for making a purchase with a financial services card, the financial services card including a cardholder name having a first part selected in a first selecting step by an individual in whose name the financial services card is registered, and a second part selected in a second selecting step, the second part identifying an entity other than the individual.

A method comprising:

• selecting a first part of a cardholder name for an account which would appear on a financial services card if a physical card is issued,
• accepting an unrelated entity's selection of a second part of the cardholder name for the account such that a use of the account will result in a provision of the first part in place of a first name and the second part in place of a surname.

A method comprising:

• accepting a payment via a financial services card having a cardholder name made up of a first part, selected by a user of the financial services card, and a second part, selected by an entity unrelated to the user.

A transactional method comprising:

• accepting a payment via a financial services card account having an account number and a cardholder name, the cardholder name including a first part, selected by a user of the financial services card account, and a second part, selected by an entity unrelated to the user without requiring a presentation of a physical card for the financial services card account at about a time when the accepting occurs.

A method comprising:

• tendering payment to a merchant by providing a financial services account number registered in a cardholder name representing a tenderor, the cardholder name made up of a first part, selected by the tenderor, and a second part, selected by an entity unrelated to the tenderor, the second part being present in place of a surname as the surname would appear on a conventional credit card issued to the tenderor.