what credit card can I load my Serve account with?

[solon]

People have been reporting trouble lately using a credit card to load money into a Serve account. Has anyone found a card that is NOT charging cash advance fees for this service?

[brooklynguy]

I use Barclay Arrival and so far it is still treated as a purchase and not a cash advance, but this month the merchant code/transaction description has changed to something that sounds like a cash advance ("poi funding" or something like that) so I don't think this will last for much longer.

Target Redbird seems poised to supplant Serve once it rolls out in all states.

[arebelspy]

Any non AmEx.

The cash advance thing was a rumor that didn't pan out - you should be fine with pretty much any CC.

[solon]

Good. I just got the Serve card today and I was anxious to try it out. Disappointed to hear that trick didn't work anymore. I'll give it a shot and see what happens.

[johnny847]

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manufactured-spending/1199432-serve-another-paypal-amazon-payments.html

The cash advance thing is definitely NOT a rumor. Users on that thread have confirmed cash advance fees for some Visa issued by BoA, Citi, US Bank, and PNC.

If you ever post on that thread, be sure to read the wiki first. They get pissed if they have to answer a question that's on the wiki.

[arebelspy]

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manufactured-spending/1199432-serve-another-paypal-amazon-payments.html

The cash advance thing is definitely NOT a rumor. Users on that thread have confirmed cash advance fees for some Visa issued by BoA, Citi, US Bank, and PNC.

If you ever post on that thread, be sure to read the wiki first. They get pissed if they have to answer a question that's on the wiki.

Thanks for the correction. It looks like most of the good travel hacking cards still work fine, but definitely good to know.

[bye-bye Ms. FancyPants]

following - let the travel hacking begin

[johnny847]

following - let the travel hacking begin

You can actually follow a thread by clicking the notify button.

Also, something that I thought was kind of weird is that commenting on a thread doesn't automatically notify you of future comments - you need to hit the notify button. Which is awkward when you post, because after you post, it pops you into the list of all threads, and then you have to go back to the thread to hit notify.

[arebelspy]

following - let the travel hacking begin

You can actually follow a thread by clicking the notify button.

Also, something that I thought was kind of weird is that commenting on a thread doesn't automatically notify you of future comments - you need to hit the notify button. Which is awkward when you post, because after you post, it pops you into the list of all threads, and then you have to go back to the thread to hit notify.

Most of us follow by having a thread show up in our "threads you've replied to" list, not by having a notification. Notifications are annoying, IMO.

[johnny847]

following - let the travel hacking begin

You can actually follow a thread by clicking the notify button.

Also, something that I thought was kind of weird is that commenting on a thread doesn't automatically notify you of future comments - you need to hit the notify button. Which is awkward when you post, because after you post, it pops you into the list of all threads, and then you have to go back to the thread to hit notify.

Most of us follow by having a thread show up in our "threads you've replied to" list, not by having a notification. Notifications are annoying, IMO.

Interesting. I know about the threads you've replied to list, but I'd much rather have notifications.

[FarmerPete]

I've been using it with my Chase Ink business card and that's working fine as of a week ago.  I just set it up to hit my $5k minimum spend to get $700 in points.  I'll probably switch it to a new card soon (now that I've more than hit my $5k) and go after a new minimum spend, or I'll add my 2% Fidelity card for an easy $20 a month.

[GumbyPickles]

I've been using it with my Chase Ink business card and that's working fine as of a week ago.  I just set it up to hit my $5k minimum spend to get $700 in points.  I'll probably switch it to a new card soon (now that I've more than hit my $5k) and go after a new minimum spend, or I'll add my 2% Fidelity card for an easy $20 a month.

Amex cards code as Cash Advance, so don't do the Fidelity...

[johnny847]

I've been using it with my Chase Ink business card and that's working fine as of a week ago.  I just set it up to hit my $5k minimum spend to get $700 in points.  I'll probably switch it to a new card soon (now that I've more than hit my $5k) and go after a new minimum spend, or I'll add my 2% Fidelity card for an easy $20 a month.

Amex cards code as Cash Advance, so don't do the Fidelity...

That's not what the flyertalk wiki says, do you have a more up to date source? (the Flyertalk wiki isn't exactly the most up to date, but it's the most reliable source i've found other than just trying it yourself) http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manufactured-spending/1199432-serve-another-paypal-amazon-payments.html
It says Amex's administered by Amex (ie, you log into americanexpress.com to manage it) are treated as purchases, but don't earn cashback/points. It says Amex's administered by FIA (such as the Fidelity Amex) is treated as a purchase.

[FarmerPete]

Ditto on the Fidelity Amex.  I've got three American Express cards that are administered by Amex, and those are certainly a no-go.  It's not a cash advance, but you get no points for it.  It's really only useful to reach minimum spends or as a free cash advance.  The Fidelity Amex is administered by FIA card services.  Because of the 2% cash back on all transactions, it's also a popular one to use for the credit card loads on Serve.

Really though, using my Chase Ink is the better option.  Not through a CC load.  I've been buying $200 Visa gift cards at staples and loading them on to Serve at Walmart.  I make ~$5.36 for each card that I load after the fees ($6.96) and visasavingedge discount (1%) after the 5% cash back at Staples.  There is a Staples and a WM virtually right next to each other near me.  Last week I bought 8 cards ($1600), and then loaded them at the Money Center Express kiosk.  Took me maybe 20 minutes start to finish and I made $42.91.  You can only do a max of 5k a month of cash loads per Serve and $2500 per day at WM.  Some people just do money orders at WM instead of using Serve.  They only charge $0.70 for < $1000 MO.  So you could buy 5 cards for $1034.75, get a 1% rebate from VSE for a credit of $10.35 and a net cost of $1024.40. Then you buy a MO for $999.30 with the last $0.70 paying for the MO.  You just converted $1024.40 into $999.30 for a net cost of $24.1 with 5122 in chase ultimate rewards.  Those points can be converted into $51.22 USD, or used towards travel at 125% of value.

*As all things in this manufactured spending industry, trends, techniques, risks, and success change daily.  Proceed at your own risk.  Don't spend more than you can afford to pay off, or buy more than you can liquidate through standard methods.  In other words, don't buy $10k worth of gift cards and then not be able to pay your mortgage because Walmart changed their PoS systems to block this last night.

[arebelspy]

I've been using it with my Chase Ink business card and that's working fine as of a week ago.  I just set it up to hit my $5k minimum spend to get $700 in points.  I'll probably switch it to a new card soon (now that I've more than hit my $5k) and go after a new minimum spend, or I'll add my 2% Fidelity card for an easy $20 a month.

how did you actually go about doing this?

You charge $1500 per month on the Chase Ink card to fill the Serve card then what?

do you transfer that to your checking account and pay the Ink off?  Or do you do a bill pay to pay the ink off?

Either.  I directly use the Bill Pay set up in Serve to pay the bill.

[arebelspy]

so you can actually load up serve using the card and then use the bill pay to pay of the same card?  I figured I would have to use 2 different cards simultaneously to make it less obvious.

Sure.

I think that's less frowned upon than loading it up and then transferring it all out to your bank account.

[FarmerPete]

I've been using it with my Chase Ink business card and that's working fine as of a week ago.  I just set it up to hit my $5k minimum spend to get $700 in points.  I'll probably switch it to a new card soon (now that I've more than hit my $5k) and go after a new minimum spend, or I'll add my 2% Fidelity card for an easy $20 a month.

how did you actually go about doing this?

You charge $1500 per month on the Chase Ink card to fill the Serve card then what?

do you transfer that to your checking account and pay the Ink off?  Or do you do a bill pay to pay the ink off?

I can only do $1000 per month of CC loads.  You need "Softcard" to do the $1500, and I can't get it since I don't have a Verizon/ATT/Tmobile phones.  I setup 5 recurring transactions of $200 each (the daily load limit for Serve via CC) to hit the $1000 monthly limit.  I then use that money to pay off bills (Mortgage & CC for me).  You can transfer the money back to your bank, but apparently that is considered more suspicious than actually spending the money via a bill pay.  Either way, my main goal is to get the money out of Serve and on to expenses/debts that I would have had to withdraw from my bank account. 

I got the rest of my "minimum spend" on the Ink by doing what I referenced above. The trick with using prepaid debit cards to load your serve is that you have to find cards where

1) The points/cashback are greater than the fees.
2) The cards are compatible with Walmarts system.

The fees for the cards are typically $4-7 per card, regardless of "value" of the prepaid card.  I could buy a $500 card from a supermarket with my 2% cash back and make a profit of $3.189 per $500 card.  I do the Staples deal with my Ink since the 1% off and 5% cashback gives me more bang for my buck.  I can also transfer 5 $200 cards onto Serve for every 2 $500 cards.  If you have a CC that gives a higher cash back from grocery stores, you can potentially cash in there.  Just start small and make sure things work before you plunk down a big investment in gift cards.  Flyertalk is your friend.

[arebelspy]

I setup 5 recurring transactions of $200 each (the daily load limit for Serve via CC) to hit the $1000 monthly limit.

How do you set them up to be recurring?  I have to go in 5 time sin a month and do it manually.  Only takes a minute, but recurring is obviously easier.

[Will]

I setup 5 recurring transactions of $200 each (the daily load limit for Serve via CC) to hit the $1000 monthly limit.

How do you set them up to be recurring?  I have to go in 5 time sin a month and do it manually.  Only takes a minute, but recurring is obviously easier.

Log in to your Serve account, go to "Settings," then under "Funding and Transfers" there is a "Add Money Settings" tab.  Then you choose "Scheduled Auto Add."

[arebelspy]

I setup 5 recurring transactions of $200 each (the daily load limit for Serve via CC) to hit the $1000 monthly limit.

How do you set them up to be recurring?  I have to go in 5 time sin a month and do it manually.  Only takes a minute, but recurring is obviously easier.

Log in to your Serve account, go to "Settings," then under "Funding and Transfers" there is a "Add Money Settings" tab.  Then you choose "Scheduled Auto Add."

Thanks!  I'll try that out later today.  :D

[sobezen]

Can anyone share their experiences loading credit cards to Target Redbird and Serve?  I want to pick just one to use strictly for credit cards.  Thank you.

[johnny847]

Can anyone share their experiences loading credit cards to Target Redbird and Serve?  I want to pick just one to use strictly for credit cards.  Thank you.

For the Serve, you can see a lot more datapoints herehttp://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manufactured-spending/1199432-serve-another-paypal-amazon-payments.html

[arebelspy]

Can anyone share their experiences loading credit cards to Target Redbird and Serve?  I want to pick just one to use strictly for credit cards.  Thank you.

Have had to call in to get a CC added to the account.  Once it's on there it works fine.  Sometimes it works fine adding it online without calling.  If you're sticking to the same card every month, you should never even need to do that.

Some cards apparently don't work (have cash advance fees), but the most popular CCs all work fine with it.

In short I've had basically no issues and have used it quite a bit.