Amex Prepaid Reloadables – Get More Than One
For a very very long time, the big limit of Bluebird/Serve/REDcard was that you could only have one card per person/SS# across all products. This significantly limited the amount of MS you could do since each card carries a $5K monthly load limit. Some recruited family members or friends to get additional cards, while others kept it small with 1 or 2.
Then of course, Amex started shutting down Bluebird/Serve accounts. Well, to be fair they didn’t shut them down per se, they just made it so funds can’t be loaded to them. Which begs the question, “What do you call a reloadable card without the ability to reload?” *chirp* I got nothing.
Anyway, with so many people shutdown, it seems that Amex may want to grow the ranks of their cardholders. They have now removed the “one card per person rule”. (Note: You can still only have one of each product.) Here is how it is explained in the Serve FAQ:
Can I have additional American Express Reloadable Prepaid Products?
Yes, if you already have an American Express Serve Account you are still eligible to register for:Bluebird by American Express Account
Target Prepaid REDcard by American Express Account.
What If You Have Been Shutdown?
This new policy is great news, especially for those who want to maximize the number of cards they have for Amex Offers. (Not there have been a ton of great ones lately.) So the big question is, will they allow you to open other products if you have been restricted? I think the answer is no.
Shortly after the initial shutdowns, people did have success opening new accounts, but those were shutdown fairly quickly too. Now it seems Amex has a sort of prepaid blacklist or at least I think they do. After seeing this news I attempted to open a REDcard and a Bluebird card. Both times I was “denied”.
Other Limitations
According to the Serve website, there is one current limitation if you have more than one of the prepaid reloadable cards in your name.
Have a Bluebird or Prepaid REDcard Account? Users with more than one Account are unable to send and request money from other users and deposit money by check through our app while we make improvements to our site.
If you often send money between accounts, then perhaps you’ll want to think twice before opening up multiple cards. If not, then these restrictions aren’t a huge deal at all.
Does This Matter?
I think this is definitely good news for some. Obviously some people will probably want to get a REDcard for the 5% Target discount and others will want more Bluebird/Serve cards for Amex Offers. Then there are the people who will probably get the cards and load them to the max for a month or so before getting shutdown. Any way you slice it, this news will be good for a few. For others like me, too late amigos.
Have you had success in getting a new Amex prepaid reloadable after being shutdown? What do you think about this new policy? Let us know in the comments!
HT: Doctor of Credit
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If you already have Serve VIP (or Serve Green) – can you get another “flavor” of Serve? Or they are not considered different enough, and Bluebird (Redbird as well, but I am not interested) is the only option?
In the terms it says you can still only have one per “family” of cards. All different variations of Serve are considered to be in the same family unfortunately.
with any redcard, can we still get 5% off on GCs purchase?
IIRC people had issues with Red Bird. The Red Debit card is the way to go.
I wonder if opening another account puts my not (yet) shutdown account at any greater risk…
Yeah I agree. I’m happy with my Debit REDcard. Signing up is a bit strange, but it works well.
can you load your Debit RedCard with a credit card? If not – then perhaps some people should consider using their miles/points-earning credit cards VS the discount that a debit card might give you.
Yes. I have the RedCard Debit that pulls from my bank account. I test-bought a $15 Subway card and it cost $14.25. I believe it only works for no-fee store-specific cards, though, no VGC etc.
Why would I want RedBird for MS? I thought it can’t be loaded with credit cards or gift cards/debit cards, right?
You wouldn’t and perhaps I should have broken out each card. You would want REDCard for the 5% discount if that is something that is important to you, however you could also just get a Target Debit card.
Bluebird/Serve would be for MS and/or Amex Offers.