American Express® Serve gives you full service reloadable prepaid account for only $1 a month to maintain control of spending and ATM access, set aside money for a vacation or a large purchase, send and receive money quickly and easily between Serve Accounts, and add checks to your Account with the Mobile App.

Table of Contents

American Express Serve Card Features

Your Full Service Prepaid Debit Card. (American Express Serve is not a credit card.)
No credit check. No minimum balance. No hidden fees.
Free Direct Deposit gets you access to your money up to 2 days faster.
Free ATM withdrawals at over 24,000 ATMs nationwide.
Free Online Bill Pay and money management tools.
Enjoy American Express service and security 24/7. Shop online and off and enjoy Card Membership benefits like Purchase Protection.*
*Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. Subject to additional terms, conditions, and exclusions.

What is Serve? American Express® Serve is a digital prepaid account that gives you a safe way to pay in stores, online, and on your mobile phone. It’s free to sign up. American Express® Serve is great alternative to debit and other prepaid cards that’s loaded with great features. Account holders enjoy no credit checks, no monthly fees, and no annual fees. It has given PayPal some real competition and is seriously challenging the lucrative prepaid credit card market. While American Express Serve is primarily a type of prepaid card, it has extra features that make it a hybrid. There are many good reasons why you would need a prepaid credit card these days.

Summary of American Express Serve

Serve is from American Express: Get a Serve® prepaid card to use everywhere American Express® Cards are accepted in the U.S.
Benefits of membership: Get access to benefits like 24/7 customer support, Purchase Protection, Roadside Assistance, and Entertainment Access.
Security: Serve uses advanced technology from American Express to keep your information and transactions safe and secure.
Get the app: Download the mobile app for iPhone®, Android™, and Windows® Phone to move money or split the bill on the go.
Link your bank account or card: Add money to your account with a bank account, debit card, credit card, or MoneyPak®.
Get cash at ATMs: Use the Serve® Card to get cash at ATMs. Serve will waive its $2 fee for your first withdrawal each month. ATM owner fees may apply.
Additional features: Send or request money with a wall post on Facebook, create subaccounts for family and friends, and use widgets to sell items online.

How Does FDIC Insurance Work on Prepaid Cards

Prepaid debit cards normally have FDIC insurance, which helps keep your funds protected in case the bank or company that issued the prepaid card goes bankrupt. Only financial institutions can have FDIC insurance, so a prepaid card is either managed by a bank or a company partners up with a bank to offer that insurance. You must register your prepaid debit card with your name and other identification information in order to be eligible for FDIC insurance and other protections.

Bottom Line

Just like PayPal, you can send money by email through American Express Serve, but the latter takes the convenience further by allowing you to do this via text messaging and Facebook as well. With its handy features, the American Express Serve has managed to bring back the power to the consumer with regards to the usage of the prepaid mode. Credit card providers tend to forget the fact that in going this way, you are actually using your own money, not theirs.

Hence, you deserve every bit of extra courtesy accorded by the American Express® Serve. Prepaid providers tend to emphasize the fact that getting the card does not require a credit check, without realizing that in going their way, you, the consumer is actually the one who’s fronting the money. For more posts like this, check out our list of ways to save more money and credit card bonuses!

Learn More at Serve