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Serve - Another Paypal/Amazon payments (2015)

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Old Jan 10, 2015, 8:55 pm
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Last edit by: ericdabbs
The previous megathread is here.

Read the wiki before posting a question.
It's a literacy test that's easy to pass.


As of April 16, 2015 regular Serve cards will only accept American Express network cards for online credit card loads.
Softcard Serve accounts are apparently grandfathered in the old system and continue to work as before, being able to load Mastercard, Visa, and Discover (see below).


Serve loads count towards minimum spend on AmEx-issued cards, including SPG.

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.


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

Regular 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 [B]
  • Online Credit Card Load (AmEx only) - $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.

Softcard Serve
Softcard has shutdown and there is no longer any way to apply for this version.
  • 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
  • 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.

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.

OneVip Card: (Mucho gracias, AndrewTheMan)
This card is essentially just like the regular, fee-free, "old" serve. You may reload this card up to $2,500/day; $1,000/transaction at Walmart (not impacted by Blue Bird daily limit change). Have not tested FD or anywhere else. KATE takes this no problems..
You can use this to load the FIDO AMEX up to 1k a month.

Limits for online debit card and credit card loads reset at 9 PM PST/12 AM EST

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

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.

A few report no problems 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.

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. One person with a Serve/Softcard account reported being sent to the main Serve number for this process.

https://www.serve.com/help/#add-money-5

Regular Serve Credit Card Loading

Regular Serve can only load from American Express network cards. In addition to those issued directly by American Express, this includes the following:
  • AAA Rewards AmEx
  • Alitalia AmEx
  • Bank of America Accelerated Rewards AmEx
  • Bank of America Asiana Airlines AmEx
  • Bank of Hawaii AmEx Card with MyBankoh Rewards
  • Bloomingdale's AmEx
  • Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select AmEx
  • Citi Dividend AmEx (not obtainable unless specifically requested)
  • Citi Thank You Preferred AmEx (not obtainable unless specifically requested)
  • Dillard's AmEx
  • FNBO AmEx
  • FNBO Graphite AmEx
  • FNBO Platinum AmEx
  • Macy's AmEx
  • Penfed Premium Travel Rewards AmEx
  • SavingStar AmEx
  • Travelocity AmEx
  • US Bank Flexperks AmEx
  • USAA Cash Rewards/Rewards Plus AmEx
  • Wells Fargo Propel World/365 AmEx

Softcard Serve Credit Card Loading

If you are fortunate enough to be grandfathered into a Softcard Serve Account, you can also load other credit cards beside American Express cards. Softcard Serve is not available to new applicants anymore so you'll need to get one of the other Serve options if you don't already have one. In general, Mastercard and American Express cards post as purchases. Visa cards transact as a cash advance and, therefore, require available CA limit; although most cards post as a purchase.

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
  • Wells Fargo (American Express)

Treated as purchase, but doesn't earn points/miles:
  • American Express issued (Counts toward minimum spend -- see post #434) but does not earn points. Example: For the Delta Amex card, Serve counts towards min spend DL miles sign-up bonus, but that spend and subsequent trials of spend on Serve will not earn points. Don't do it, man!

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

A few report being unable to add the Chase IHG MC.

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
Helpful instruction post, latest. Thanks raeneye.

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

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.

Switching from Redbird is presumably similar. See the RedCard thread for more information.

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 #7
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Serve - Another Paypal/Amazon payments (2015)

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Old Oct 24, 2015, 11:08 am
  #2611  
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,857
Originally Posted by Montacute
A few days after the registration e-mail I got both a your card has been shipped e-mail and a your card has been activated e-mail. This seems to be a glitch--getting the activation e-mail before you have activated or even received the card. But yes, you have to get a your card has been shipped e-mail before you start watching your mail.
Ouch. I guess I can count out any October loads.
bobert24 is offline  
Old Oct 24, 2015, 11:40 am
  #2612  
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 1
Has anyone signed up a child under the age of 18? What could be the consequence of doing so? I know the requirement is that the person be 18 years of age or older to sign up for a Serve account, but do they confirm the social with the date of birth somehow? Would this hinder the child's ability to apply for credit cards with AMEX later in life?
CuriouserCuriouser is offline  
Old Oct 24, 2015, 12:09 pm
  #2613  
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 43
starwood bus

1.8k of my starwood business spending was online loads. Just got the bonus last week. So seems like it is still up and running.
gregoryfo is offline  
Old Oct 24, 2015, 12:21 pm
  #2614  
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Metro ATL
Posts: 359
Originally Posted by Phantom707
1. 10
2. 17
3. Yes

I'm trying to be cheeky here on purpose. I switched a card on a Soft Card account this month successfully. There are no reported failures that weren't fixed by calling in. Just call after uploading the documents and say "I'm attempting to add funds using a new credit card to my grandfathered Soft Card Serve account,and the system is not letting me load funds." or something like that. If you get resistance saying it was discontinued, politely tell them that it was grandfathered and still allowed.
When I switched from CSP to Citi AT&T no ID or anything else asked about 3-4 months ago.
touristtrap is offline  
Old Oct 24, 2015, 12:33 pm
  #2615  
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 287
Originally Posted by CuriouserCuriouser
Has anyone signed up a child under the age of 18? What could be the consequence of doing so? I know the requirement is that the person be 18 years of age or older to sign up for a Serve account, but do they confirm the social with the date of birth somehow? Would this hinder the child's ability to apply for credit cards with AMEX later in life?
Can't do it. Tried and they want proof of age. Over 18
isriam is offline  
Old Oct 24, 2015, 12:43 pm
  #2616  
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: DCA
Posts: 814
Originally Posted by Montacute
Thanks. Fingers crossed!!
Got my serve in today's mail! 7 days after the shipped e-mail. Whew.
Montacute is offline  
Old Oct 24, 2015, 1:00 pm
  #2617  
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 32
Address match issue with AmEx Serve

I'm trying to link my Fidelity AmEx to my One Vip serve account. But I have hit a brick wall. Name and address are the same except fidelity has me as "first MI Last city , state", serve has me registered as "First Last city state". Serve CSR says middle initial okay, but no go because addresses don't match Fidelity tells me the comma in my address is hardcoded and can't be changed

Anybody else run into this?
Any suggestions on a way to workaround this?

Last edited by getstarted; Oct 24, 2015 at 2:42 pm
getstarted is offline  
Old Oct 24, 2015, 1:16 pm
  #2618  
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,857
Originally Posted by gregoryfo
1.8k of my starwood business spending was online loads. Just got the bonus last week. So seems like it is still up and running.
Perfect. Thanks for the confirmation. At least that part should still work.
bobert24 is offline  
Old Oct 24, 2015, 2:48 pm
  #2619  
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 11
Been digesting this entire thread and came to this one post. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/25595189-post2525.html I can't figure out for the life of me why any of the old cards are the way to go and worth the trouble to go drive around and find, it seems like the online OneVIP is just so much easier and the same thing as if you're able to find the old Serve cards. Why are the old ones still sought after? Is it because you can load an initial $500 or so without having that factor into your limit for the month or something?
cgregson is offline  
Old Oct 24, 2015, 3:33 pm
  #2620  
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 162
Originally Posted by gregoryfo
1.8k of my starwood business spending was online loads. Just got the bonus last week. So seems like it is still up and running.
Anyone have success meeting minimum spend using online loads with the Amex business gold?
flew-d-coop is offline  
Old Oct 24, 2015, 3:57 pm
  #2621  
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 1,112
Originally Posted by cgregson
Been digesting this entire thread and came to this one post. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/25595189-post2525.html I can't figure out for the life of me why any of the old cards are the way to go and worth the trouble to go drive around and find, it seems like the online OneVIP is just so much easier and the same thing as if you're able to find the old Serve cards. Why are the old ones still sought after? Is it because you can load an initial $500 or so without having that factor into your limit for the month or something?
I would have to guess that there's a psychological (and therefore attempt at predictive) factor involved. Amex has made it clear that the old Serve has been grandfathered (made even clearer with the grandfathering of SoftCard/ISIS Wallet Serve accounts). By contrast, they haven't really said much about OneVIP. If/when Amex makes another change, it could be that they keep old blues grandfathered as they currently are while devaluing OneVIP versions.

Also, at least in my experience, it's not that hard to find the old Serve versions. If someone really is going out to different stores to search for it, then I think their time would be better spent just ordering OneVIP from online, but if they see it in store, why not just pick it up? There's also the fact that you can get started with the temporary card without having to wait for the permanent card in the mail, something not possible with OneVIP. A couple of recent posts show people stressing out about having to wait a week and a half (or so) for their permanent OneVIP cards.
Phantom707 is offline  
Old Oct 24, 2015, 6:20 pm
  #2622  
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,857
Originally Posted by cgregson
Been digesting this entire thread and came to this one post. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/25595189-post2525.html I can't figure out for the life of me why any of the old cards are the way to go and worth the trouble to go drive around and find, it seems like the online OneVIP is just so much easier and the same thing as if you're able to find the old Serve cards. Why are the old ones still sought after? Is it because you can load an initial $500 or so without having that factor into your limit for the month or something?
Originally Posted by Phantom707
I would have to guess that there's a psychological (and therefore attempt at predictive) factor involved. Amex has made it clear that the old Serve has been grandfathered (made even clearer with the grandfathering of SoftCard/ISIS Wallet Serve accounts). By contrast, they haven't really said much about OneVIP. If/when Amex makes another change, it could be that they keep old blues grandfathered as they currently are while devaluing OneVIP versions.

Also, at least in my experience, it's not that hard to find the old Serve versions. If someone really is going out to different stores to search for it, then I think their time would be better spent just ordering OneVIP from online, but if they see it in store, why not just pick it up? There's also the fact that you can get started with the temporary card without having to wait for the permanent card in the mail, something not possible with OneVIP. A couple of recent posts show people stressing out about having to wait a week and a half (or so) for their permanent OneVIP cards.
Confirming what Phantom said. I went out and got an old Serve (didn't take much driving around - my closest walmart had 20 serves, 15 of which were the old version). It's not clear if I'll get my permanent card by the end of the month, but I've got my temp card, which means I can get in at least $1k in loads. I'm also, as was mentioned, more confident in my position as being grandfathered in to the old T&C, in case anything changes.

And perhaps most importantly (and possibly least accurately) there have been some implications here and elsewhere that the OneVIP card may not have been intended for everyone, and/or that we possibly aren't intended to be able to get it at this point. If there's any chance of that being shut down (and people with that card having their accounts shut down), I'll gladly pay $1.95 plus a little gas for that extra peace of mind.

Again, that last point is really just my own conclusion based on my own reading, so feel free to ignore it if you want to. But it's part of my reasoning for buying a temp card, so I included it.
bobert24 is offline  
Old Oct 24, 2015, 6:30 pm
  #2623  
 
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Atlanta, GA
Programs: AA PLT, AS 75K, DL DM, HY Globalist, HH Diamond, MC/RZ/SW Platinum, AB/UA Silver, WN CP
Posts: 1,122
Originally Posted by bobert24
Confirming what Phantom said. I went out and got an old Serve (didn't take much driving around - my closest walmart had 20 serves, 15 of which were the old version). It's not clear if I'll get my permanent card by the end of the month, but I've got my temp card, which means I can get in at least $1k in loads. I'm also, as was mentioned, more confident in my position as being grandfathered in to the old T&C, in case anything changes.

And perhaps most importantly (and possibly least accurately) there have been some implications here and elsewhere that the OneVIP card may not have been intended for everyone, and/or that we possibly aren't intended to be able to get it at this point. If there's any chance of that being shut down (and people with that card having their accounts shut down), I'll gladly pay $1.95 plus a little gas for that extra peace of mind.

Again, that last point is really just my own conclusion based on my own reading, so feel free to ignore it if you want to. But it's part of my reasoning for buying a temp card, so I included it.
Good points. I'm also aware that all T&Cs can change, so nothing is guaranteed. (Remember when Serve was marketed as a PayPal alternative where you could send $$ to friends using a CC w/o fees?) The cards are $3.95 here and require D/L to be scanned. I don't know where that info goes, but I was happy to save the fee and a little personal info by ordering ONE VIP. I didn't actually realize one could do anything with the temporary card other than use it for purchases, so it's good to know that interim online loads are permitted.
Carl is offline  
Old Oct 24, 2015, 6:56 pm
  #2624  
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 131
Originally Posted by odin99
no, unfortunately not. it was one thing I wanted to test out - now i have the answer.

i'm not a huge MS'er, so that's why i wanted an old one. i don't want to have to load $500 every mo. i know that might be silly to you all but i'm really only MSing to meet min spending bonuses, not as a regular monthly thing - so there might be months i don't want to load.
Why not get Bluebird instead then?
wonderboy is offline  
Old Oct 24, 2015, 7:29 pm
  #2625  
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 161
Is there a rule as to which places charge a fee for reloading a serve with cash.

I had found this convenient using a local 7/11 where cash could be put on the Serve and then used for bill pays. (Of course, my bank could do the same thing, but was not as convenient).

I recently tried to do this at a Walgreen and was charged a reload fee. I paid it since I was there and had started the process and did not want to travel to a bank. Is there any rule as to which places do this free, and which charge you?

Last edited by ed765; Oct 24, 2015 at 9:38 pm
ed765 is offline  


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