American Express Takes on PayPal With Serve

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American Express Takes on PayPal With Serve

With its new platform Serve, which was announced Monday, American Express is looking to take on industry giant PayPal in the digital payment and commerce space.

Like PayPal, Serve can be used to make purchases and person-to-person transactions online, as well as at merchants that accept American Express cards and via mobile devices. Serve accounts can be funded by debit, credit, charge card, bank account or transfers from other Serve members.

AMEX is offering apps for iOS and Android and says the service will also be accessible through Facebook. American Express explains the set-up process in a statement:

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 is available immediately now to anyone in the U.S., and American Express says it plans to launch in other international markets in the coming year.

HOW TO COMPARE

Serve

Prepaid Yes

Physical Card Yes

Subaccounts Yes

Instant Payments Yes

Account to account Yes

You can earn rewards No

Pay purchases over time No


Paypal

Prepaid No

Physical Card Yes

Subaccounts Minors Only

Instant Payments Yes

Account to account No

You can earn rewards Yes (PayPal Preferred & the PayPal Card)

Pay purchases over time Yes (with the PayPal Card)