Amex Serve Raises Daily ATM Withdrawal Limit to $750

However with the monthly limit unchanged at $2,000 someone risks the chances that at some point they will have no ability to withdraw cash at an ATM.

Hello XXXXX,

We are writing to inform you of some changes to the terms and conditions of your American Express Serve® Account. Please review the changes below and share them with any Subaccount users:

• Out-of-Network ATM Fees:

Beginning October 30, 2014, the out-of-network ATM withdrawal fee for your Serve Card will increase from $2.00 to $2.50. ATM operator fees may also apply.

You can still enjoy free ATM withdrawals when using an in-network MoneyPass® ATM. You can find one of the more than 24,000 MoneyPass ATMs below.

• ATM Withdrawal Limits Increase:

We have increased your daily ATM limit, so you can withdraw up to $750 per day. Your monthly ATM withdrawal limit will remain at $2,000.

GoBank Updates Terms

The following new limits will take effect after August 14, 2014.

• In store cash deposits are now limited to up to $3,000 per rolling 30 days.
• When using the Send Money feature, you're now limited to receiving up to $2,000 per day and up to $5,000 per rolling 30 days.
• When using the Pay feature, you're now limited to sending payments of up to $5,000 per day and $5,000 per transaction.

Bonus

• We're getting rid of the $1.00 Out-of-Network ATM Balance Inquiry Fee (Yay!)

Amex Serve Free Cash Reloads now @CVS

Add cash to your American Express Serve® Card at the register for FREE at any CVS/pharmacy store and soon at participating 7-ELEVEN® locations nationwide. It's a fast and easy way to load your Card and have it ready for the everyday purchases you need to make.

Use your Card to pay bills, buy groceries, and shop virtually anywhere American Express® Cards are accepted. It's easy, safe and secure.



How it Works:

1. Visit a CVS/pharmacy store near you. Find the closest one on CVS.com.

2. Give your cash and Card to the cashier to add money.

3. Your money is added immediately and your funds are ready to use.

GreenDot Taking Over Walmart's Cards

GreenDot Bank is taking deposits from Walmart Cards that now go to GE Capital Bank.

Cardholders whose Wal-Mart Card accounts are acquired from GECRB would have continuous access to their account funds throughout the transition to Green Dot Bank.

Green Dot Bank would expand the features available to Wal-Mart Card cardholders not currently supported by GECRB.

In particular, Green Dot Bank would provide a traditional bill payment feature, in which the cardholder could pay bills via automated clearinghouse fund transfers, and a check-writing feature, in which the cardholder could electronically complete checks that Green Dot Bank would print and mail to any payee designated by the cardholder.

Green Dot Bank is developing additional features for the Wal-Mart Cards, including a budget management feature that would allow cardholders to set aside funds loaded onto the Wal-Mart Card.

How Big Banks Killed a Plan to Speed Up Money Transfers

You can bounce a check these days within hours but transferring money from your Bank Account is still governed by decades old rules that can cause your money to sit for days in purgatory.

Here is the article from PaymentsSource:

http://www.paymentssource.com/news/how-big-banks-killed-a-plan-to-speed-up-money-transfers-3016022-1.html

US Bank Prepaid Consolidation?

American Banker is reporting that US Bank is consolidating all its different prepaid cards.

Looking for some confirmation of that but nothing so far.

Walmart Preferred MoneyCard

It was only a matter of time before Walmart rolled out something more competitive. It's also only a matter of time before Walmart starts some type of rewards program.

https://www.walmartmoneycard.com/walmart/account/legal-info-page?doc=feeplan&productname=preferred

$6 to purchase

$3 monthly service fee - waived with either direct deposit or $500 loaded during the month.

Free cash reloads

Early direct deposit when employer gives notice

The OnBudget Prepaid Mastercard No Fees Instant ACH Deposits

https://onbudget.com

No fees
No prepaid card fees, no ATM fees, no account fees, and no load fees.

Two prepaid debit cards included per account
Seamlessly integrates two users into one household budget.

Effortless budget setup process
Eliminates all the guessing and tedious work in setting up a budget.

Instant card loads from any bank account
No more waiting 2 to 3 days for money to load from your bank (and still no fees).

Free access to budget advisors
Support from initial budget consultation through 90 day budget checkup.

Serve Prepares for New Serve

Thanks again for signing up for an American Express Serve® Account.

As a new Accountholder, we wanted to let you know about some important fees and features, which allow us to provide you with even more value and convenience.

• Monthly & Foreign Transaction Fees: In order for us to improve existing features and continue to introduce new ones, beginning on December 3, 2013, we will charge a monthly fee of $1 and a foreign transaction fee of 2.7% on purchases made outside of the U.S. We will waive the monthly fee for each statement period when you (1) add money in any amount to your Account using Direct Deposit or (2) load $500 or more to your Account.*

• Free MoneyPass® ATM Transactions: We recently introduced free ATM withdrawals at over 23,000 MoneyPass ATMs. Visit www.moneypass.com to find an ATM near you.

• Coming Soon - Free Ways to Add Cash at Retail Locations: American Express Serve customers will soon be able to add money to their Account for free at CVS/pharmacy stores nationwide and participating 7-Eleven locations. Stay tuned for more information.

See the chart below for a complete list of all fees for your Serve Account.


American Express Serve Account Fee Summary


Monthly
$1 Monthly Fee
(no fee in NY, TX & VT)
–OR–

No fee until 12/3/2013
$0 with any Direct Deposit during your statement period
–OR–
$0 when you add $500 or more during your statement period



Add Money $0 Direct Deposit
$0 Checking/Savings Account
$0 Debit/Credit Card

Coming Soon: Add cash for $0 at CVS/pharmacy stores nationwide and participating 7–Eleven locations

Load cash using MoneyPak® or Vanilla Reload (Third party fees may apply1)


ATM Withdrawals $0 at MoneyPass® ATMs
$2 at non-MoneyPass ATMs.2 ATM operator fees apply


Foreign Transactions 2.7% on each transaction after
conversion to US dollars

Walgreens New Prepaid will Include Check Cashing

I'm betting $3 to cash a check and deposit onto the card - being able to keep $100 cash at that time.

If you don't have direct deposit and you are a frequent Walgreen's shopper this could be a very good card.

---------------------------

Check cashing for Balance Financial cardholders in the initial 250 Walgreens stores. Cardholders will be able to deposit payroll, tax refund and government benefit checks and can receive from a Walgreens cashier up to $100 in cash from their card account. Additional cash can be accessed without a fee at a Walgreens ATM.

When you activate your Balance™ Financial MasterCard, your Balance® Rewards account can be linked to your card account. Once cards are linked, your Balance Financial MasterCard also becomes your Balance® Rewards Card. Then, just use your Balance Financial MasterCard and watch the points really add up:1

Get 10 points for every $1 spent at Walgreens or Duane Reade stores.

Get 100 points every time you reload in store.

Get 1,000 points when your first direct deposit is made. Then, get 250 points for each month a direct deposit is received.

US Bank Contour Card

US Bank has apparently opened up what was a combination student ID prepaid account to the general public.

It's $4 to get the card and $4 a month to maintain it.

https://usbankcontour.com/personal-preset

The cards are available in different colors and you can have up to 5 sub accounts which also cost $4 to order but no monthly fees for sub accounts.

This card or one of the sub accounts can be loaded with a credit card, a debit card, by cash at any US Bank (free) or via Visa Readylink ($4-$5).

https://usbankcontour.com/fees

Pretty good limits on usage. $10,000 total cap, $5,000 daily spending limit and a $1,000 daily ATM withdrawal limit.

If US Bank was on the East coast I'd be getting one of these myself.

American Express Brings Free Cash Reloads to Serve Card

Amex brings a lot of new features to Serve, the best being free cash reloads. There is now a $1 monthly fee that is waived when you have direct deposit or deposit $500 in a month.

Free cash deposits at CVS and 7-Eleven stores nationwide along with free MoneyPass ATMs, free BillPay and no fees is very compelling. This is a real threat to US Banks.

I was surprised to learn that the 'Learnvest' service is a paid service other than through Serve/American Express.

Serve did have 'English as a first language' customer service and I believe the $1 waivable fee is to generate some extra revenue to keep a higher level of customer service. BlueBird customer service (unless its changed which I doubt) was horrendous.

Free Cash Load Network: Starting this November, American Express Serve customers will be able to take cash to the register at more than 14,000 participating CVS/pharmacy and 7-Eleven stores and add it to their American Express Serve Account. This is made possible through a relationship with InComm and its Vanilla Reload Network.

Direct Deposit: Serve customers can add their paycheck or government disbursements directly into their Account through Serve.com.

Mobile Check Capture: Later this year, customers will be able to use their smartphone camera to snap a photo of a check and add it directly into their Account using the Serve mobile app.

LearnVest Partnership: LearnVest, a company aimed at making educational financial content accessible to everyone, will provide information designed to help customers set and achieve financial goals and save money. This free educational financial information will be integrated throughout the Serve.com experience.

Reserve: Customers can easily move funds with one time or recurring payments from their Serve Account to a linked Reserve to put money away – and keep it away – for future purchases like a vacation, holiday gifts, or for emergency funds.

Bill Pay: With electronic bill pay customers can pay any bill online using Serve.com and the Serve mobile app.

Free Withdrawals at MoneyPass® ATMs in the U.S.: American Express Serve customers can now withdraw money for free at more than 22,000 MoneyPass® ATMs nationwide. For the closest MoneyPass® ATM location, customers can visit: https://www.serve.com/manage-money/#/atm-access

American Express Serve is now available online at www.serve.com and will be available at select CVS/pharmacy, Family Dollar, Office Depot, Walgreens and Duane Reade stores in the U.S. this fall for a one-time purchase price of $2.95.

Balance Financial Mastercard by Walgreens

"Balance Financial Prepaid MasterCard" from Walgreen's/Duane Reade.

https://balancefinancial.walgreens.com

Balance Financial is currently offered to customers of more than 250 Walgreen's locations in Detroit, Milwaukee and Nashville, with a nationwide card roll out expected before year end and additional financial services in 2014

Has some fees which for the most part can be avoided.

No monthly fee when $1,000 a month is loaded - $2.95 a month otherwise.

Free ATM withdrawals at participating Walgreen/Duane Reade ATM's - no explanation of what that means though.

Bill Pay is 95 cents. They mention an expedited Bill Pay also.

Cash reload at Walgreen's/Duane Reade stores is $2.95.

Daily spend limit of $2,500.

Daily withdrawal limit of $500.

This already has IPhone and Android apps.

It sounds as though they will have special kiosks in stores just for this card.

Apparently Walgreen will begin cashing checks as part of this offering. Maybe they already do in some locations. Probably using Certegy just as Walmart does.

https://balancefinancial.walgreens.com/content/part/nm/MDAxNkUPFfRrPxlbiTCbXhdkw7gK

There is a 'rewards' aspect of this deal that combines Walgreen's purchase, prescriptions and some social/health through their 'Balance' reward program. It looks like every 1,000 points is worth one dollar at Walgreens. If you are a frequent Walgreens shopper this may be for you. Their prescription sales though are more expensive than Walmart by far.

My advice to Walgreen's is to either eliminate the cash deposit charge or lower it to $1.

ObamaCare Mandates a Debit or Credit Card

To those that have no type of bank card, in order to receive Obamacare benefits you MUST have a debit or credit card.

Read the details here:

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-08-29/pre-paid-debit-cards-accepted-anywhere-obamacare-is-available