A stored-value account is an account held with a payment provider, such as a wallet app, prepaid card programme or transit operator, that records a balance the user has paid in advance. The user can spend the balance, send it to others or withdraw it, depending on the product, but the account is not a bank deposit: the provider owes the user the balance and holds matching funds, usually under safeguarding or escrow rules rather than deposit insurance.
The term is a general description that covers several legal categories, including electronic money accounts in Europe, prepaid accounts in the United States and balances on a stored value facility in Hong Kong. A stored-value account is often accessed through a digital wallet or a stored-value card, and its records are kept in the provider's wallet ledger. Limits on balances and transactions usually depend on how fully the user's identity has been verified.