[Daniel_Newby]

"Phone cards are basically just (small) deposit accounts that are withdrawn against for one particular purchase. It makes a lot of sense that they'd fall under the same law."

No. Bank deposits are accounted for as money held in trust under a limited power of attorney, the total principal value must be reserved against by high-quality assets, and they are super-senior debt instruments that have priority in liquidation.

The purchase price of phone cards is accounted for as income for the phone company, the cards are sold to provide a bearer service contract, they can discount the sale price to account for minutes that will not be used, reserves are whatever the phone company wants, and they are junior instruments that have low priority in liquidation.