Old Oct 25, 2013, 11:21 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: JAXBA
Read the wiki before posting a question.
It's a literacy test that's easy to pass.

This is the Serve thread. Post questions or information concerning other topics in the appropriate threads elsewhere in this forum.

For additional information on using prepaid debit cards, see PIN available now for Visa/MC prepaid debit cards.

Mentions of Softcard (formerly ISIS) are purely incidental to setting up and using Serve/Softcard. Softcard does not hold money, and you cannot load to it.


You cannot make an ACH pull from Serve. The direct deposit account and routing numbers are for deposits only.

https://www.serve.com/#/add-cash

If your card doesn't say "debit" on the front, it isn't a debit card.


Loads at 7-11 and CVS are cash only. Debit cards are NOT allowed.

Loads at Walmart have been confirmed with debit cards. Self checkout does not work for loading Serve. Many Walmart stores are enforcing a rule against the use of prepaid debit cards when loading, even though the register and the MCE do not enforce. Do not make your prepaid debit cards visible. Show them a bank debit card if asked, then discreetly use your prepaid card when asked to swipe. Otherwise, you may be asked by management to never visit the MC (Walmart Money Center) again to load.

Debit loading at Family Dollar appears to be limited to $500 per day per store total (not per person or per account). Whoever gets there first gets the load for the day. Troubleshooting loading problems at FD


Normal Serve
  • Serve loading via VR/MP or WM/FD load: $2,500/day and $5,000 total per calendar month
  • Online Debit Card Load - $200/day and $1,000/month (NOT a gift card with a PIN that some people call a "Debit card")
  • Online Credit Card Load - $200/day and $1,000/month
  • Checking/Savings Account - $2,000/month
  • Checks - $2,000/day and $10,000/month
  • ATM Withdrawals - $750/day and $2,000/month

You can combine the three methods above and load a total of $7k/month to a single Serve account for miles/points earning purposes, but beware that you're also subject to a $10,000/month add money limit which also includes check deposits, ACH transfers, and Serve transfers.

Serve/Softcard Check if your phone/network is compatible
  • Serve loading via VR/MP or WM/FD load: $2,500/day and $5,000 total per calendar month
  • Online Debit Card Load - $500/day and $1,500/month (NOT a gift card with a PIN that some people call a "Debit card")
  • Online Credit Card Load - $500/day and $1,500/month
  • Checking/Savings Account - $2,000/month
  • Checks - $2,000/day and $10,000/month
  • ATM Withdrawals - $750/day and $2,000/month

You can combine the three methods above and load a total of $8k/month to a single Serve account for miles/points earning purposes, but beware that you're also subject to a $10,000/month add money limit which also includes check deposits, ACH transfers, and Serve transfers.

The SD card in the iPhone case used for Softcard is account specific. Once an account has been registered to a card, it cannot be used for another.

Temp Serve
You can only load a maximum of $500/day, $1000/month on a temporary card. Once you get your permanent card, then you can load more. The initial $500 when you purchase the temp card doesn't count against the $5,000/month load limit.


Online Credit Card Loads
Only one card can be linked at a time.

As of 10/09/14, coding of credit card loads changed. In general, Mastercard and American Express cards post as before; see below for information on point earning. Visa cards transact as a cash advance and, therefore, require available CA limit; although most cards post as a purchase.

The Chase Ink Bold is a charge card and has no cash advance ability.

Treated as purchase, earns cashback/points/miles:
  • Bank of America (FIA) (MasterCard, American Express)
  • Barclaycard (Mastercard, Visa)
  • Capital One (Mastercard, Visa)
  • Chase (MasterCard, Visa)
  • Citi (MasterCard, American Express)
  • Discover

Treated as purchase, but doesn't earn points/miles:
  • American Express (May count toward minimum spend)

Posts as a cash advance:
For online CC/DC loads, the name on the Serve account is supposed to match the name of the primary or joint cardholder. So using someone else's CC/DB card to load a Serve account is not allowed.

Several people have reported no problems with loading with an AU card in the Serve account holder's name. Increase your chances by making sure the AUs social security number is on file with the Credit Card. YMMV.

When adding a new card you will usually need to call Serve Account security (1-800-555-4318) for verification of the new card on the second load try. This verification usually requires uploading of a photo of your ID and the credit card. You may pre-emptively avoid the error by going to the above website, logging in, and uploading a scan of a photo ID and the card you are trying to add. You may call back to expedite approval.


Online Debit Card Loads
For online debit load, only use of bank-issued cards is allowed. The use of pre-paid debit cards (Netspend, Paypower, Univision, Paypal*, etc.) and VGC/MGC/AGCs is not allowed. While initial transactions may work, your account will eventually be flagged.


Switching to Serve or Serve/Softcard
Helpful instruction post, latest. Thanks raeneye.

Also see this thread: Switching from Serve to BlueBird - 31 day wait???

Switching to Serve/Softcard
  1. Call up Bluebird or Serve and close account. Make sure your account is at $0.00 before calling. Just close it, don't ask for a temp Serve or anything. CSR will say account is now closed and you have 30 days to change your mind should you decide to re-open it.
  2. Download the Softcard mobile app from Apple App Store or Google Play Store. If you're an iPhone user you have to buy the NFC CashWrap case from your carrier store.
  3. Launch Softcard Mobile App and create Softcard account. You'll be asked if you want to open a Serve account; Yes you do. Start the registration through Softcard mobile app for a Serve account, once you are finished you will be told you will receive an Email from Amex with your account approval. I waited a few hours and called Serve customer service like the wiki says and completed the registration.
  4. Once I got off the phone with Serve I received an email from Serve where I verified my account and email; at this point Amex Serve is open.
  5. Launch Softcard Mobile app again click add new
  6. Activate card with Softcard and select Amex Serve. Follow the instructions & you're good to add. Once this is complete a Serve Card will populate in Softcard. Must activate physical card to get full load limits. Check account status and it automatically credits to your serve account based on who you signed up with. (Verizon - $25, T-Mobile - $50, AT&T - $30 (For AT&T: Get $15 w/activation. Earn additional $15 w/account replenishment))

Switching from BB to Serve
  1. Login to BB account, bring account balance to Zero, (By Bill Pay, Send money, etc..)
  2. Call BB, tell them that you want to open a serve account and close your current BB account. after they check everything they will say something like: "Your account will be permanently closed after 31 days, you can reopen it within 31 day if you change your mind, and you can apply for your new Serve account now, just make sure use the exact same register info from BB."
  3. at this point BB is closed. next morning, goto CVS and get a temporary Serve card (only with cash), load $500, ($2.95 waived, Yeah!!)
  4. get back home, register temporary Serve online, First error: "phone number already registered, please try a different number" could be the my BB's ghost account still showing up on their system, could be my info is not match my BB's registration? i'm not really sure at this point. What I did is keep the same number but change from Cell phone to home phone. and registration went through
  5. after the register and login, second error: "We're still processing your application. Please check your email for an update"
  6. I have see people on the thread reported waiting for weeks for the same message, So, I pickup the phone and called them, ask them to speed up the process.
  7. CSR, told me that my account went to "account security protection department" transfer me to them.
  8. at account security protection department, they told me need to call back on my phone number which I registered to verify.
  9. after the call back of verification, CSR told me that my new Serve account is active now, email address verification will be send with in 5 minutes, permanent card will be received within 7-10 days.
  10. CSR also told me the I can load and spend on the temporary card, but not bill pay.

The number to call to approve your registration after closing Bluebird: Serve Account security 1-800-555-4318



Loading with debit card at Walmart register
Loads at register over $500 will sometimes trigger ID requirement. There is a limit of four swipes per transaction; this means your card plus three payments.

Training a WM cashier:
  • If the WM cashier doesn't know how to load the card, advise them to enter "70" then press "action code".
  • If you are using a temp card that doesn't have your name on it, you can swipe the card from your side of the terminal. The WM rep never has to touch any of your cards. The screen will say "enter account." That is your prompt to slide the card.
  • The terminal will ask the WM employee if you are loading in multiples of $2000. Advise them to enter "no."
  • Avoid saying gift card. Always refer to your card as a debit card.

Error Messages:
DEBIT NOT AVAILABLE
Received when I used a card I thought I had activated but hadn't.

DEBIT NOT APPROVED
Received when the card's monthly load limit had been reached.

TENDER NOT ALLOWED
Card was incorrectly read, or wrong PIN entered.

HOST TIMEOUT
Connection problems. The GC may be drained but the transaction should reverse itself, and funds will become available again. Try again later.


Using Serve
For online bill pay
  • You can pay the credit card that you used to buy VRs/GCs
  • Error 1302 means that you have 1 pending payment the same amount as the one you just submitted. For example, 1000 bill pay to sapphire preferred from Friday and then on Saturday you submit another bill pay for 1000 to sapphire preferred, you will get this error.
  • Tip: if using online bill pay to the same place multiple times, vary your amounts by $0.01 to make it easier to track since your confirmation number does not match the tracking number on your credit card statement



For bank transfers
Under Settings --> Funding & Transfers --> Bank & Cards --> U.S. Bank Account, you can add your bank info and transfer funds from your Serve card directly to your bank. The bank account must be verified, either by the standard "deposit 2 small sums into your account, such as $0.23 & $0.42" method, or doing an "instant verification" by actually logging into your bank account while still logged into Serve.
===

People with an apartment address can find helpful information quoted in post #8530
Print Wikipost

Serve - Another Paypal/Amazon Payments.

Old Oct 11, 2014, 4:22 pm
  #7231  
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Programs: AA, UA.
Posts: 282
BOA Alaska Visa Cash Advance

I got hit by $10 fee for load BOA Alaska Visa on 10/9/14
moon4fun is offline  
Old Oct 11, 2014, 4:25 pm
  #7232  
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: FLL / BKK
Posts: 703
Originally Posted by Cuant
According to above on 10/8/2014 Serve have changed their MCC (I'd still insist that they were forced to change MCC to reflect the real nature of the business) from:

7278 - Buying/Shopping Services Clubs
to:
6540 POI Funding Transactions (Excluding MasterCard MoneySend)

According to MasterCard: POI = point of interaction - The location where a transaction occurs (formerly point of sale or point of service).


The MCC 6540 might or might not be considered Cash Advance by the Card issuers depending on their own policies.

The Classic Cash Advance MCCs are considered:
6010 - Manual Cash Disburse
6011 - Automated Cash Disburse


The MCC 6540 - definitely will fall into a High Risk transaction and even if certain Card Issuers might not consider it as Cash Advance they might still decline the transaction authorization based on their Risk Engine and/or will decrease the available Cash Advance limit, to mitigate fraud risk.
Great explanation. Thanks for the details!
EVA777 is offline  
Old Oct 11, 2014, 4:44 pm
  #7233  
 
Join Date: May 2013
Programs: DL PLT, AS 75k, AA Exec Plat
Posts: 391
Originally Posted by ericdabbs
Are we sure that the CA charges are not by card? I thought I read that one Citi card (Citi Double Cash card) was not charged with CA fees but another Citi card (Citi AA card) was charged with CA. I think the list needs to call out which specific cards are affected.
Citi definitely seems to be a Visa/MC split - all the reports so far have visas posting as cash advances but Mastercards are purchases. Barclay/Chase however is letting both visa and Mastercards post as purchases. I suspect bofa will follow citi with the visa/Mastercard split since have confirmed cash advance on visa and purchase on FIA MC, and FIA is a subsidiary.
floressalicis is offline  
Old Oct 11, 2014, 6:05 pm
  #7234  
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 14
Anyone else having problems loading serve isis online with Chase Sapphire Preferred? Serve just keeps getting a declined message saying to call the card issuing bank. I called Chase to see what the message was saying and the CS rep told me the declined message was that it was against company policy to process account to account transfers and some other stuff. This is a CSP MC with CA allowed.
krayvi is offline  
Old Oct 11, 2014, 7:57 pm
  #7235  
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: ATL
Programs: AA, AGR, DL, MR, WoH, UA
Posts: 951
Originally Posted by Lumpylump76
That's because things just changed around the 8th/9th. The Wiki was accurate prior to 8th. The Wiki has been updated to reflect the current reported CA fees.
Hopefully, people will stop deleting information and only update those things which we know are definitively true.
sechs is offline  
Old Oct 11, 2014, 8:09 pm
  #7236  
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 565
Originally Posted by sechs
Hopefully, people will stop deleting information and only update those things which we know are definitively true.
There are multiple reports of Citi and BoA charging CA fees, but someone edited the Wiki to take those out.
Lumpylump76 is offline  
Old Oct 11, 2014, 8:11 pm
  #7237  
 
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: California
Posts: 264
Citi Forward Visa charged a CA fee for my 10/8 Serve load (not for my 10/6 & 10/7 loads). My statement that closed 10/10 shows the CA fee+interest.
sbft77 is offline  
Old Oct 11, 2014, 8:23 pm
  #7238  
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 137
Originally Posted by jsmithj88
just got the chase ihg mc and us bank club carlson visa
what do u suggest i do to avoid the CA??
0$ the CA limit??
leave the CA limit alone?
or are we all still compiling data?
I've seen several posts saying that the US Bank CC VI posts as a cash advance as of 10/9, so I haven't used it on Serve myself. When I tried to lower the CA limit on my USB CC VI, they told me they couldn't, and that it was tied to my overall CL.

I don't know about the Chase IHG MC. Read back to the beginning of this month.
0limits is offline  
Old Oct 11, 2014, 8:40 pm
  #7239  
 
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 3,493
Originally Posted by Lumpylump76
There are multiple reports of Citi and BoA charging CA fees, but someone edited the Wiki to take those out.
I think its better if people mention the specific cards within the bank instead of lumping them all into one. For instance Citi cards seem to be split on CA charges between Visa/MC. I don't think its too hard to ask for people to post their specific card that got CA charges so we can weed out the cards that work and don't work.
ericdabbs is offline  
Old Oct 11, 2014, 8:44 pm
  #7240  
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: NC
Posts: 138
Originally Posted by hayburner21
Seeing lots of chatter hear for Citi / Chase / USB, Visa / MC issues.

I recently applied and was approved for the Capital One Venture card, and couldn't find any references to Capital One or Venture since 10/2. The wiki says Capital One might be CA pending verification, but the below posts from 10/2 around then actually have them posting as merchandise purchases. Any more Cap1 info (MisterEdF or ftomasze)?

edit: got a referral. Thanks!
Here's my last two transactions with a Capital One Venture Visa (AF version):

10/08/2014 AMERICAN EXPRESS SERVE Other Services $200.00
Transaction Date: Tuesday, 10/07/2014
Posted Date: Wednesday, 10/08/2014
Details: Financial Services
Appears on your statement as:
AMERICAN EXPRESS SERVE 8009540559 FL 33701 US


10/06/2014 AMERICAN EXPRESS SERVE Merchandise $200.00
Transaction Date: Saturday, 10/04/2014
Posted Date: Monday, 10/06/2014
Details: Discount Stores
Appears on your statement as:
AMERICAN EXPRESS SERVE 8009540559 FL 33701 US


The merchant code obviously changed, and reloads are now posting as a "financial service." However, from what I can tell, it's still coded as a purchase and not a CA.
bombnthud is offline  
Old Oct 11, 2014, 9:14 pm
  #7241  
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: LAX
Programs: AA, TY, UR, UA, US, WN, MR, SPG
Posts: 1,453
When is the CA fee charged? At the time of the transaction posting? Or at statement close?

I've run 3x $200 transactions on my new Chase Ink Plus

1 of 3 have posted, and posted as a purchase/no CA fee.
roki is offline  
Old Oct 11, 2014, 9:53 pm
  #7242  
 
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 3,493
Originally Posted by roki
When is the CA fee charged? At the time of the transaction posting? Or at statement close?

I've run 3x $200 transactions on my new Chase Ink Plus

1 of 3 have posted, and posted as a purchase/no CA fee.
From the data points so far, the CA fees get charged when it is posted. Any pending transactions do not have CA fees attached but have the CA available balance decreased.
ericdabbs is offline  
Old Oct 11, 2014, 10:09 pm
  #7243  
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 299
Originally Posted by sechs
Hopefully, people will stop deleting information and only update those things which we know are definitively true.
We know Citi Visas get CA fees. It was in the wiki and now it's deleted. What is going on...
waingro is offline  
Old Oct 11, 2014, 10:16 pm
  #7244  
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: LAX
Programs: AA, TY, UR, UA, US, WN, MR, SPG
Posts: 1,453
Originally Posted by ericdabbs
From the data points so far, the CA fees get charged when it is posted. Any pending transactions do not have CA fees attached but have the CA available balance decreased.
My CA limit dropped $600 (3x $200), but the first $200 transaction posted as a sale and CA limit went up $200. Looks like I'm all clear on my Ink, which is nice.
roki is offline  
Old Oct 12, 2014, 12:58 am
  #7245  
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 2
Originally Posted by roki
My CA limit dropped $600 (3x $200), but the first $200 transaction posted as a sale and CA limit went up $200. Looks like I'm all clear on my Ink, which is nice.
Were any of those initiated after the MCC change? My load from 10/8 to Ink went through as a purchase, but haven't tried since.

Reminder for anyone else with the Chase Ink that as a business card it is not regulated by the same provisions of the CARD act that personal cards are. If something posts as a cash advance you'll have to pay off your full balance in order to stop the interest accumulation on the cash advance.
Onjin is offline  

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