Just a little while ago, I wrote a post about the e-mail that many Bluebird & Serve holders are receiving (still have not received one for my wife’s Serve yet). This is on the heels of Amex sending out notice on Wednesday that, effective immediately, they were ending the ability to use Bluebird & Serve for international money withdrawals. Of course, there is reason to wonder what Amex may drop again.
Important Reason NOT To Transfer Funds From Bluebird & Serve Yet!
Because of these changes, and the fact that Amex mentioned in the e-mail that we will have access to the cash already in the accounts, I have already been hearing from people as they quickly go to transfer the money out to their bank account or to pay a credit card. But, that may not be the smartest play right now. Here’s why:
Amex Offers
Amex Offers are a good reason to keep some cash in your account!
Bluebird & Serve cards have access to Amex Offers. In fact, many of you might already have saved certain offers to your accounts. Since Amex Offers are free money, you have potentially free money sitting on your account right now.
But, since these are prepaid services, you need to have money in to spend with the card. If you have previously loaded your Bluebird or Serve card, you can still use it to spend using your card. That means you can still get that free money from Amex Offers!
Not only that, but you can still load Offers to your card as well. These offers can be ones available on social media channels or available right in your account or on the app.
Also, don’t forget the sub-accounts! With each account receiving 4 possible sub-accounts, that is even more money you can have access to. As of right now, it is still possible to make a sub-account! Spread that money around to make more money from the Amex Offers!
No Money = No Offers
However, if you transfer all of your money out, you will not be able to reload the card. Once your account has gone to $0, the e-mail references a link to close your account. It will not be possible to add more funds to it. Once your account is empty, no more Amex Offers on the Bluebird/Serve cards in your possession.
Summary
I think it is a good idea to transfer out what you need to, but if you can afford to keep some of the money in your account for a while, it could be very helpful to you. For instance, if you have a spend $50, get $10 offer on your card, you will get that $10 back in your account so you will be slowly emptying your account while getting money. I am not sure if Amex will decide to just close the account at some point and send you a check, but in the meantime, you should consider leaving some money in for Amex Offers.
It certainly is a dark day for manufactured spending (which Amex even calls it in their terms that they referenced in the e-mail). But, opportunities have always been shut down and more opportunities open up. In the meantime, do not let this free money go to waste!
The offers are certainly worth it, however, given the fact that I will no longer be able to load, and thus waive the monthly fee, I still plan to empty out before end of next month. Sure, the offer might still outweigh the fee, but, it’s a gamble, and, there may be other things and another hammer to fall that we may be gambling with a month from now…
I didn’t think there are any monthly fees for the Bluebird.
thehawk75 is not talking about BB.
People remember when Amex shut down RB they mailed checks to everyone 30-90 day after…
[…] with Miles makes another good point – it may be worth keeping the card open for access to Amex Offers. Of course if you take all your money out, and can’t add more, you can’t really buy […]