Some online Serve credit loads now posting as cash advances

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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

I posted earlier today that US Bank has started charging cash advance fees for Serve online credit loads.  In response, several people informed me that the same is true for Citibank.  In fact, PointsCentric tweeted a screenshot of his online statement:

CitiServeLoad

This is a new phenomenon that began recently, around October 8th.  So far, my loads using Barclaycard Arrival Plus still appear to be purchases.

Note that some banks are known to treat these loads as cash advances while the payments are pending.  Once they move from pending to actual, they are treated as purchases.  With US Bank and Citi, though, recent loads are being treated as cash advances even once they are no longer pending.

Please report below your experiences with Serve loads since October 8th.  Please only include transactions that are no longer pending.  Thanks!

Safe List

Here are cards that were reported by readers to be safe, along with the most recent date of purchase:

  • Barclaycard
    • Arrival Plus, October 9
    • Priceline
    • US Airways, October 9
  • Capital One Venture
  • Chase
    • Freedom
    • Southwest Premier, October 11
    • Sapphire Preferred, October 9
    • Marriott Business, October 11
    • Ink Plus, October 10
  • Fidelity Amex, October 12
  • Nasa FCU Rewards Visa, October 11

Unsafe List

The following cards were reported to charge a cash advance fee for Serve reloads.  Most recent reported date is listed:

  • Citibank, October 9
  • Bank of America
    • Bank of America Travel Rewards
    • Alaska Signature
    • Travel Rewards
  • Emigrant Direct Visa, October 8
  • US Bank
    • Club Carlson, October 9
    • LifeMiles, October 30

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