It’s now been about five years since I began covering the prepaid market. Over those five years there have been major changes to prepaid debit cards. First fees began to come down, to the point that many prepaid cards are free. Then some major companies entered the market, such as Wal-mart and Chase. And now American Express has taken it to the next level with a card called Serve.
Think of Serve as a prepaid account, not just a card. It includes a reloadable prepaid debit card, of course, but the account includes several unique features.
Serve Facebook App
Serve comes with a Facebook App that enables you to send and receive money. You can actually transfer money to and from friends via a Facebook wall post. Here’s a video that shows how it works:
Earn Zynga In-Game Rewards
I confess that I’ve never been much of a FarmVille fan. But I know many people love the game, along with Bubble Safari, CastleVille, and CityVille. With the Serve card, you can earn Farm Cash, Safari Cash, Castle Case or City Cash. As an example, here’s how you can earn up to 943 Farm Cash:
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Sign up for an account: +150
Add money to your account for the first time: +130
Activate your Serve Card: +13
First 10 purchases using your card: +65 each
Subaccounts
Subaccounts are an easy way to give allowance to your kids or even pay the babysitter. Each person with a subaccount gets his or her own Serve card. You can then transfer money to these cards and set the spending limit.
Mobile Payments
The day may come when we user our cell phones to make most of our payments. But that day is not here, yet. Yes, there are apps we can use to pay for certain things. I use my iPhone to pay for coffee at Starbucks. But that’s about it.
With Serve, you have several ways to transfer money via the Internet. Above we’ve already covered the Facebook App. Serve offers three other ways to transfer cash:
- Serve App: The card comes with this app that allows you to pay with your smart phone. The people you pay must have the Serve app as well. But if they do, things like splitting the bill is a snap.
- Email: You can send or request money via email
- Text Message: You can send or request money via text message
No Monthly Fees
While most prepaid cards come with fees, the Serve prepaid card has no monthly or annual fees. In addition, the $2 ATM fee is waived for the first ATM transaction each month.
For more information or to get the card, visit the Serve official website.
Rob Berger
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Published or updated January 2, 2013.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
can i have my husbands and my tax return atomically put on my serve card
Victoria, according to the Serve website, they do not accept direct deposit for government funds.
I have never used one of these cards so pardon my ignorance. How do you put money on this card ie if I want to use it once a month to pay a bill, how do I put the cash on the card?
Bob, the best way to add money to a prepaid card is either through a transfer from a bank account or direct deposit. In the case of an Amex prepaid card, you can also add money with an American Express card. To add cash to a prepaid card, you’d need to use a MoneyPak, which you can buy at most convenience stores. But it will cost $4.95.
Will using a Pre-paid card like this help build credit, i.e., rebuild a poor credit score?
Far as I’ve heard / know it won’t .None of pre-paid cards will. If I’m wrong hopefully Rob above will correct me.
Rob, can u refill at a local store like Walmart to add money? They sell prepaid cardsas well and can refill it right at the register.
Jess, you can’t refill at a Walmart store, although Walmart does offer an Amex prepaid card called Bluebird that enables you to reload the card at Walmart stores.
How does Serve Prepaid Card from American Express differ from Bluebird by Amerian Express