American Express Serve Reloadable Prepaid Debit Card 2023 Review (2023)

FAQs

Is Serve American Express good? ›

This product is strongly not recommended by SuperMoney users with a score of -78, equating to 1.4 on a 5 point rating scale. Recommendation score measures the loyalty between a provider and a consumer.

The American Express Serve® card is a reloadable prepaid debit card that functions similarly to a basic debit card tied to a checking account at a traditional bank. A prepaid debit card is an account that allows you to spend only the amount of money that you have loaded into the account in advance.

For Serve^® American Express^® Prepaid Debit Accounts, when you purchase a temporary card, you can add between $20-$500. Once you have email verified and activated your personalized card, you can add between $20-$500 per transaction.

Key Takeaways. A reloadable, or prepaid, debit card is not the same as a debit card that's linked to your bank account. Reloadable debit cards allow you to add money to them as needed. Many reloadable debit cards have consumer protections in case your card is lost or stolen and used to make unauthorized charges.

Please contact American Express directly at 800‑954‑0559 if you're having trouble withdrawing money from your American Express Serve. Your card may have been blocked to prevent unauthorized access to your account. Your Serve account is normally enabled for ATM withdrawals against your balance.

A daily withdrawal limit of $2,500 applies for each Serve account held, and a cumulative $2,900 daily limit applies across all your Serve accounts.

You can transfer money only to your linked checking or savings account, but not to a debit card. Log into your Serve account. Go to Money Out then select Transfer to Bank. If you already have a linked bank account, the bank name will be displayed.

Free Cash Reload at thousands of locations at over 45,000 CVS/Pharmacy^®, Family Dollar^®, Walmart^® and participating 7-ELEVEN^® locations. You can add money to your Serve Account from your checking or savings account by intitiating a transfer from your bank into your Serve Account.

Unlike the other cards though, American Express Serve® Cash Back card offers you 1% cash back on all purchases. That means that for each $100 that you spend, you'll earn $1 in cash back. While the cash back is nice to have, you'll need to spend at least $795 each month to make up for the $7.95 monthly fee.

The Monthly Fee will be charged to your Serve^® American Express^® Prepaid Debit Account at the end of every monthly statement period. You will see the Monthly Fee listed on your monthly statement and your Transaction History.

How long does it take to load a Serve card? ›

Please note this feature is only available for Serve^® American Express^® Prepaid Debit Account customers. Checks – If you choose Money in Minutes your money is generally available within 3-5 minutes, but can take up to one hour.

Disadvantages. Pre-paid debit cards do not help you build credit. Many pre-paid debit cards charge fees before you even start using them. There is usually a monthly fee and fees on common transactions such as ATM withdrawals, card replacement, direct deposit, and reloading the card.

The Bluebird® American Express® Prepaid Debit Account is known for its lack of fees — including no monthly fee, foreign transaction fee, card transaction fee, overdraft fee, or inactivity fee.

The short answer is no. A prepaid credit card does not have any impact on your credit score simply because they do not report to the credit bureaus. Prepaid credit cards are essentially a substitute for cash – they are like debit cards.

Use your Serve^® American Express^® Prepaid Debit Card at ATMs that permit American Express transactions within the United States and Puerto Rico. Use the Serve^® Pay As You Go Visa^® Prepaid Card for ATM withdrawals everywhere Visa debit cards are accepted, including international ATMs.

How do I make in store purchases? You can use your Serve^® American Express^® Prepaid Card virtually anywhere American Express® Cards are accepted. If a merchant asks you to choose between “credit” and “debit”, select “credit”.

Because you can't overdraft your Serve^® American Express^® Prepaid Debit Account, there are no overdraft fees. Additionally, you can add a backup funding source to ensure your transactions will not be declined due to lack of funds in your Account.

The most common reason for a card to be declined is because you're over your credit limit, or the purchase in question would put you over your credit limit.

Your Serve Account comes with a card that can be used online or in stores everywhere Visa^® or American Express^® Cards are accepted.

Can you pay bills with a Serve card? ›

If your biller accepts card payments, you can visit the biller's website and use your Serve card to pay your bill. Be sure to only use your personalized Serve card (not your temporary Serve card or virtual temporary card) for any recurring payments such as memberships or subscriptions.

Your Direct Deposit comes from a U.S. bank account. The Direct Deposit does not exceed the maximum balance and monthly limits specified in the Fees and Limits section of the appropriate Consumer User Agreement or Cardholder Agreement for your Serve card.

Cash App supports debit and credit cards from Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover. Most prepaid cards are also supported.

The limits for adding checks or making direct deposits to your Serve account are $2,000 per day and $10,000 per month. Note: There is an add money limit of $10,000 per month TOTAL to your Serve account.

To avoid the American Express Serve monthly fee, you have to load the account with $500 for the month. Coming up with $500 to inject into a financial account can be a tall order for anyone.

All the benefits of Serve, plus FREE Cash Reloads at over 45,000 locations. Shop online with your Card virtually anywhere American Express® Cards are accepted. No credit check, FREE to register online, FREE Online Bill Pay, and fraud protection. No minimum balance.

An FDIC-insured Serve account lets you do a lot more than just make purchases, it also comes with free ATM withdrawals at more than 30,000 MoneyPass ATM locations, free online bill pay, and instant cash transfers. A Serve card also offers free early direct deposit.

Spend the Available Balance on your Card at virtually any merchant in the U.S. that accepts American Express® Cards, including in-store locations, online and mail-order. Withdraw money from any ATM nationwide that accepts American Express® Cards.

Prepaid cards can be a good option if you don't have a checking account. Parents who want to give their kids a limited amount of money can also opt for prepaid cards. Debit cards can be a good choice for anyone with a checking account since they provide easy access to your money and don't need to be reloaded.

Can the government track prepaid cards? ›

Can the government track debit card purchases? Federal laws prevent the government from tracking the financial transactions of citizens, without written permission, "except under limited circumstances." Process: The Verify team exists to fact-check rumors spreading online.

Benefits of the prepaid card

A prepaid card is different from a debit card based on the fact that you don't need a bank account to have a prepaid card. And, when you get a prepaid card you won't be subject to any credit checks or inquiries into your banking history because you are using loading your cash onto the card.

Be aware that scammers see prepaid cards as a new way to steal your money. Prepaid cards are good tools for scammers to use because: Prepaid cards are hard to trace. No photo identification is needed to use a card.

Prepaid cards offer less risk of overspending than credit cards. It's easy to overspend with traditional payment cards. Many consumers prefer tools to guide them to better spending decisions. Prepaid cards limit spending to no more than the card balance.

Prepaid cards are as secure as debit cards as they are PIN protected and you cannot release funds from them without successfully entering a PIN. those prepaid cards that are contactless enable, it is required to enter your PIN upon first use of the card and after 5 consecutive uses of the contactless feature in a day.

Once the money runs out, you won't be able to make more purchases until you reload the card. A prepaid card functions in some ways like other cards. This means you can swipe or insert it into point-of-sale systems to make your purchases and, in some cases, use it at ATMs to withdraw cash.

As you make purchases using the prepaid card, your available balance goes down. To increase the balance, you must reload the card with more funds. There is nothing to pay-off, no monthly statements, no interest payments – but no impact on your credit score. Be aware that you may incur fees.

A daily withdrawal limit of $2,500 applies for each Serve account held, and a cumulative $2,900 daily limit applies across all your Serve accounts.

American Express Serve is a prepaid, reloadable debit card that can be used virtually anywhere American Express is accepted. For example, you can use the card to pay bills, shop online, withdraw cash at MoneyPass ATMs or pay for everyday purchases.

Is there a direct deposit limit on the Amex Serve Card? There is an annual direct deposit limit of $100,000.

Can I use my serve card at any ATM? ›

Use the Serve^® Pay As You Go Visa^® Prepaid Card for ATM withdrawals everywhere Visa debit cards are accepted, including international ATMs.

You can transfer money only to your linked checking or savings account, but not to a debit card. Log into your Serve account. Go to Money Out then select Transfer to Bank. If you already have a linked bank account, the bank name will be displayed.

How do I get cash from a bank? Present the Serve^® Pay As You Go Visa^® Prepaid Card to a teller at a Visa member bank location and request the amount of cash you'd like to receive. This is known as an over-the-counter (OTC) cash withdrawal.

The Monthly Fee will be charged to your Serve^® American Express^® Prepaid Debit Account at the end of every monthly statement period. You will see the Monthly Fee listed on your monthly statement and your Transaction History.

Your Serve Account comes with a card that can be used online or in stores everywhere Visa^® or American Express^® Cards are accepted.

Your personalized Serve card will arrive in the mail within 7-10 business days of completing your Online Account Setup.