NEW YORK - Earlier this week American Express announced its new digital payment and commerce platform ?" Serve ?" that offers consumers to make purchases and person-to-person (P2P) payments online (serve.com), via mobile phones, and at millions of merchants who accept American Express cards.
Serve unifies multiple payment options into a single account that can be funded from a bank account, debit, credit or charge card, or by receiving money from another Serve account. ??Serve is a digital alternative aimed at consumers who currently rely on cash, check and debit card, and Serve accounts can be accessed via Serve Apple iOS and Android applications, at Serve.com and through Facebook.
Serve is a new type of payment platform that isn??t tied to a single card or mobile operating system. It??s a flexible, easy to use platform, which from day one brings tremendous assets to the alternative payments space and gives consumers an option to shop on-line and off-line at millions of merchants who accept American Express," said Dan Schulman, group president of enterprise growth at AMEX. "We intend to quickly evolve the Serve platform by adding new features and functionality as we learn from consumer and merchant experiences."
Consumers set up an online account at Serve.com or through a smartphone app. Funds can be added from bank accounts, debit cards, credit and charge cards, or other Serve accounts. Customers can use those accounts to send and receive money to friends, pay bills and make purchases online. Serve bridges online and offline commerce - each customer will be issued a Serve reloadable prepaid card linked to their Serve account that can be used at any merchant or ATM that accepts American Express cards. ????
The Serve platform evolved from technology obtained through the acquisition of Revolution Money in early 2010. ????
Serve is available immediately to anyone in the U.S. and is expected to launch into other international markets over the coming year. To gain consumer and merchant insights about Serve and to help shape upcoming releases, a marketing pilot will also be conducted in Eugene, Oregon. ????
Serve consumer fees will be highly competitive. There are only two fees for consumers and we are waiving the fee to put money into the Serve account for the next six months.
The two fees are:
- Putting money into a Serve account: 2.9% + 30c/per load, discounted to 0% for cash, debit and ACH.
- ATM cash withdrawal (after first one each month free): $2.00
Merchants who accept American Express cards will pay a prepaid discount rate for transactions made both in stores and online with a Serve prepaid card.