Originally Posted by
F357
That is not true. According to American Express themselves, the Serve card they offer is a debit card. It is a card you first load with cash, and then use at retailers where they debit your purchases. That is the definition of a debit card in the english language.
Now, maybe somehow they get away with charging credit card fees for these debit transactions, but it doesn't change the fact that they are "debit". There is no credit involved. (Amex is actually the debtor, not the creditor in this situation)
Honestly it sounds like Amex is opening themselves up to lawsuits with this.
It is a debit card in the sense that it debits money from an account with a positive balance. It does not run on a debit network.
Labeling it a debit card in marketing for end users is more or less reasonable - the average person expects a debit card to draw from your available balance and, depending on your specific situation, likely disallow purchases over your available balance. They also expect the card to allow ATM withdrawals. The card functions as a debit card as far as most normal users of the card are concerned.
It is irrelevant to a merchant whether there is stored value behind a card or not. I would argue that a large portion of purchases with 'real' debit cards are run as offline debit anyways, which typically cost the retailer the same as a credit card.