AMEX “Serves” Up Digital Payments

American Express today unveiled Serve, a digital payment
and commerce platform that gives consumers a new way to spend, send and
receive money with services that go beyond the existing global payment
networks. Some interesting points from the press release issued today include the following:

• With Serve, consumers can 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 accounts can be accessed via Serve
  Apple iOS and Android applications, at Serve.com and through Facebook. Through
  Serve, American Express aims to expand into new segments of the market that do
  not rely on traditional charge and credit cards to manage their day-to-day
  finances.
• 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.
• Serve offers users the ability to easily
  create, manage, and specify sub-accounts for their friends, family members or
  colleagues. Sub-accounts are linked to the master account and allow users to set
  spending profiles for everything from children’s allowances to dog walker fees.
• Serve is partnering with five major charities – Autism Speaks, Best
  Friends Animal Society, Malaria No More, Save The Children and Stand Up For Kids
  – to enable each organization to raise funds via a donations widget. Widgets can
  be downloaded on Serve.com and at
  facebook.com/paywithserve, and shared on other Web sites, including Facebook,
  to encourage donations. Serve will match all contributions via the widget up to
  $100,000 for each charity.
• In the coming months, Serve will offer selling widgets that give customers the
  ability to sell items through their own social networks.