Note: On January 8, 2016 American Express sent out a notice to a large number of Bluebird & Serve cardholders informing them that loading capabilities on their accounts had been terminated. For more information, see: Amex kills Bluebird and Serve for manufactured spend
As reported by Doctor of Credit, American Express is now offering two versions of their prepaid reloadable card, Serve.
It appears that the blue version of Serve is the same card we’ve known and loved all along, but its possible that there have been some changes that I’m not aware of. The green Serve card (not to be confused with the “Us” Green card from FirstCayman Internet Bank), though, is new. Unlike the blue card which waives the $1 monthly fee any month in which you load $500 or more, the new green card with “FREE Reloads” offers a dandy new $4.95 monthly fee (except in TX, NY, and VT). What’s not to love?
The weirdest part of the new green Serve card is that they advertise FREE Reloads as the differentiating feature. They specifically list free reloads at CVS, Family Dollar, Walmart, and participating 7-Eleven locations.
Why do I find that weird? Those are the exact same stores that are already fee-free for Serve reloads. See, for example, this press release from 2014. Why would anyone want to pay $4.95 per month for a card that offers the same features of a card that costs only $1 per month and where that $1 fee is easily waived?
What’s going on?
It’s possible that the stores listed above will start to impose reload fees on blue Serve. That would increase the relative value of green Serve. Or, Amex will simply use “FREE Reloads” as a marketing tactic to get people to voluntarily pay them $4.95 per month despite the equally good, and cheaper, alternative.
Credit card reloads?
One of the features that distinguishes Serve from the completely free Bluebird card is that it allows online Amex credit card loads, up to $1,000 per month. Nothing on the Serve.com home page shows that feature anymore, but their Help pages continue to list credit card loads as an option without distinguishing between Blue and Green cards. This makes me think that Amex credit card loads are available for both cards, but I’m not at all sure about that. For details about online loads, please see: Best options for Serve online loads.
Developing….
I’ll report more about these cards as more becomes known.
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So If I live in TX which card should I go for as I see three options now?
How do o find balance available on my green SERVE card?
Either log into your online account or call the number on the back of the card.
Worth noting:
“For customers who registered online before 8/5/15 with cards starting in 3727 41, For customers who purchased a Temporary Card starting in 3751 71, For all customers with One VIP™ Card from American Express Serve” – Anyone with a card is grandfathered, new applicants can get old rules with the One VIP version.
“For customers who registered online on or after 8/5/15 with cards starting in 3727 42, For customers who purchased a Temporary Card starting in 3777 72” – New blue card applicants will have the new rules.
According the agreements themselves amex credit card loads are unchanged.
One VIP: https://www.serve.com/onevip/
Legal page: https://www.serve.com/legal.html?intlink=us-serve-marketing-home-customer-sku2015-footer-legal
Also worth noting from the legal agreement page:
“For customers who registered online before 8/5/15 with cards starting in 3727 41, For customers who purchased a Temporary Card starting in 3751 71, For all customers with One VIP™ Card from American Express Serve” – The rules are staying the same.
“For customers who registered online on or after 8/5/15 with cards starting in 3727 42. For customers who purchased a Temporary Card starting in 3777 72” – Rules are changing for new applicants.
If you read the agreement amex credit card loads are still good on all serve cards.
Looks like you can still get the old rules for a new applicant if it is the One VIP version: https://www.serve.com/onevip/
Legal page: https://www.serve.com/legal.html?intlink=us-serve-marketing-home-customer-sku2015-footer-legal
That’s weird this comment had disappeared for me so I re-added it. :s
“MMS acted like the $1/month fee is new, but its not.” – FM
“Acted like”? Are you boys fighting? Is there tension between you two? Fighting for readers?
LOL, no, MMS and I are friends. If you read “acted like” as an insult or an argument, then it was a poor choice of words. I was just pointing out that the $1 fee is not new
[…] Amex serves up new version of Serve [developing story…] – American Express has revamped their Serve card lineup with the launch of a brand new Green card that carries a $4.95 monthly fee. […]
The post states you can load a Serve with a Credit Card, however per MMS this feature was removed since April 16,2015. Correct me if I am wrong, but I don’t see it when I go to load money on my serve.
Never mind… I read the link.
FM:
Look at MMS’s post. A new “Silver” serve card will be coming with 1% cashback. Also he says, those who have current serve will be grandfathered just like the good old “serve-soft card”.
Yep, just saw that. Interesting about the Silver card. With the blue card, I’m not sure what the difference is between being grandfathered in with old card, and simply selecting the blue card now. MMS acted like the $1/month fee is new, but its not. It has long been the case that $500 of loads per month is enough to waive the fee. The question will be whether new blue Serve really gets charged for reloads at Family Dollar and Walmart. If not, then I don’t see any material difference.
Who is MMS? Do you have a link to that article?
Million Mile Secrets: http://millionmilesecrets.com/2015/08/07/new-amex-serve-accounts-and-a-1-back-card-coming-soon/
Does loading Serve using American Express Credit Cards earn MR points?
Not if it’s from American Express directly. Yes if you have the card through another bank like Fidelity Investment Rewards.
If you visit serve.com using a browser not previously used to login to a Serve account (or you clear browser cache), you can see the difference between the two versions. Click on Features & Fees. The table shows that the cash reload fee for Serve Blue is “Upto $3.95 (varies by retailer)” where the Serve Green has $0 cash reload fee.
Yes, that’s where I got the info for this post from.
Since when does Serve allow free loads at CVS and 7-11? That is news to me.
cash loads — not relevant to us
I linked to the 2014 press release. But, yes, as Will says, its not very interesting since its cash only — no debit cards.