A system and method are provided for processing flexible spending account
transactions involving a plurality of pharmacies, a service provider, one
or more pharmacy benefits managers ("PBMs"), and individuals having
flexible spending accounts ("FSAs") and stored value cards for debiting
their FSAs. The service provider maintains a PBM transaction database;
receives from a pharmacy an authorization request at the time of
purchase; queries the PBM transaction database for a matching transaction
in response to the authorization request; and authorizes payment of the
patient responsible balance to be automatically debited against the
respective FSA at the time of purchase.