System and method for managing status of a payment instrument

This invention describes an online service that lets customers turn their payment instruments, like debit or credit cards, on or off. The service acts as a middleman between the customer and their bank. When a customer wants to change their card's status, they tell this intermediary service, which then informs the bank or stores the status for the bank to check before approving transactions. The claims specifically focus on this intermediary role and how it communicates the status change to the bank for authorization decisions.