American Express launches Serve digital commerce platform

Global financial services provider American Express introduced Serve, a digital payment and commerce platform enabling consumers to spend, send and receive money via mobile phones, the web and participating merchant locations.

According to AmEx, Serve unifies multiple payment options into a single account that consumers can fund from their bank account, debit, credit or charge card, or by receiving cash from another Serve account--after users set up an account at Serve.com or by downloading the appropriate iOS or Android application, they can send and receive money, pay bills and make online purchases. In addition, AmEx issues each Serve subscriber a reloadable prepaid credit card linked to their account, which they can use at any merchant or ATM that accepts American Express.

Alongside Serve payment services, American Express is teaming with corporate partners including TicketMaster, Concur and Flipswap to expand the platform into digital marketing and loyalty program initiatives. AmEx's long-term vision encompasses collaborations with commerce, gaming, entertainment, and social networking firms, said the company's Group President for Enterprise Growth Dan Schulman in a statement.

AmEx also promises competitive consumer fee rates: Users who add money to their Serve account will be billed 2.9 percent and 30 cents/load, discounted to 0 percent for cash, debit and ACH, and each ATM cash withdrawal will be billed $2.00, with no charge applied to the month's first withdrawal. There are no fees to open a Serve account, no monthly fees and no fees for P2P transactions.

For more:
- read this release

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