System and method for processing gift cards

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions for controlling a device to manage a transaction involving a gift, the instructions comprising:

• receiving, an identification of a giver, a gift, an amount of money to pay for the gift, and a recipient of the gift at a first time, wherein the giver is associated with a giver payment account, comprising a credit payment account or a debit payment account existing prior to the first time, and the recipient is associated with a recipient payment account, comprising a credit payment account or a debit payment account existing prior to the first time, and wherein the giver payment account and the recipient payment account are independent of each other and have no control over each other;
• associating a policy with the gift, wherein the policy is at least in part giver defined;
• initiating, at the first time, a transfer of at least part of the amount of money to pay for the gift from the giver payment account to a holding account that is separate from the recipient payment account;
• monitoring, via a processor and according to the policy, purchases of the recipient at a second time, which is later than the first time, using the recipient payment account to yield purchasing information;
• based on the purchasing information, determining whether the recipient has made a qualifying purchase using the recipient payment account according to the policy;
• and if the qualifying purchase has occurred, applying at least part of the amount of money to pay for the gift from the holding account to the recipient payment account.

A system for managing a transaction involving a gift, the system comprising:

• a processor;
• and a non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, perform a method comprising:
• receiving, at a first time, an identification of a giver, a gift, an amount of money to pay for the gift, and a recipient of the gift, wherein the giver is associated with a giver payment account, comprising a credit payment account or a debit payment account existing prior to the first time, and the recipient is associated with a recipient payment account, comprising a credit payment account or a debit payment account existing prior to the first time, and wherein the giver payment account and the recipient payment account are independent of each other and have no control over each other;
• associating a policy with the gift, wherein the policy is at least in part giver defined;
• initiating, at the first time, a transfer of at least part of the amount of money to pay for the gift from the giver payment account to a holding account that is separate from the recipient payment account;
• monitoring, according to the policy, purchases of the recipient at a second time, which is later than the first time, using the recipient payment account to yield purchasing information;
• determining whether, based on the purchasing information, the recipient has made a qualifying purchase using the recipient payment account according to the policy;
• and if the qualifying purchase has occurred, applying at least part of the amount of money to pay for the gift from the holding account to the recipient payment account.