System for purchase of prepaid telephone services

A method for processing prepaid phone service transactions, comprising:

• receiving, at a central terminal, a request to purchase prepaid telephone services that was generated by an initiating terminal;
• seeking financial authorization for the request using the central terminal;
• logging a transaction using the central terminal indicating a purchase of prepaid telephone services in response to receipt of an authorization;
• receiving an identifier of a financial account to be used to purchase the prepaid telephone services;
• causing, using the central terminal, the electronic debiting of the financial account using the identifier;
• and
• transmitting output data from the central terminal to the initiating terminal, wherein the output data is to be used instead of a telephone card to obtain telephone services.

A system for purchase of prepaid telephone services, comprising:

• an initiating terminal operable to receive a request to purchase prepaid telephone services;
• wherein the initiating terminal is further operable to:
• transmit the request to a central terminal, the request comprising an identifier of a financial account to be used to purchase the prepaid telephone services;
• receive output data from the central terminal if the request was financially authorized, wherein the output data reflects a purchase of prepaid telephone services, the output data to be used instead of a telephone card to obtain telephone services.