Editing Stored-value card (section)

==Uses==
[[Image:Farecard machine in Washington, D.C. (2005).jpg|thumb|right|A [[vending machine]] sells farecards for the [[Washington Metro]] [[Rapid transit|subway]].]]
Stored-value cards are most commonly used for low-value transactions, such as [[transit system]] [[Public transport#Electronic fare card|farecards]], telephone prepaid [[Telephone card|calling cards]], [[cafeterias]], or for [[micropayment]]s in shops or vending machines. They also have an advantage over most other payment cards in that when making, say, a purchase, telecommunication facilities are not needed, which may be important in situations where the availability or reliability of these facilities are uncertain or costly, especially for low-value transactions. A benefit to the merchant is that bank transaction fees are not incurred as the transaction is processed offline and there need not be a reference to the bank for processing. A limitation is that these cards cannot be used for online, telephone, mail order and other "[[card not present transaction]]s".

The German Geldkarte and the Austrian Quick card can also be used to validate a customer's age at cigarette [[vending machine]]s.

Typical applications of organization specific or industry specific prepaid card include [[paycheck#Payroll card|payroll cards]], [[rebate card]]s, [[gift cards]], cafeteria cards and [[travel card]]s and U.S. based health schemes such as [[Health Reimbursement Account|HSA]] cards. The EZpay, EagleCash, and Navy Cash cards are used by the U.S. military as electronic alternatives to cash in areas characterized by difficult access and limited banking or telecommunications infrastructure.

Stored-value cards can save organizations a considerable amount of money if customers add a large sum of funds at one time to the card and then pay a lower transaction fee for each use of the card on smaller purchases.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ny.frb.org/regional/stored_value_cards.html|title=FEDERAL RESERVE BANK of NEW YORK}}</ref>