American Express has become the next company to promote a digital payment option and they partnered with Sprint to help promote it. American Express is hoping to become as well known in the mobile payments industry as they are in the credit card industry. The digital wallet system is called “Serve” and the company says users can, “spend, send and swipe, online, offline and mobile”. American Express joins other companies like Paypal, Boku, eBay-Zong and Visa that already have mobile payment systems on the market.
President of Enterprise and Growth at American Express, Dan Schulman, says, “We believe that customers will benefit greatly from taking advantage of Serve’s functionality as a quick, user-friendly way for tackling the often tedious task of paying bills and making mobile payments”. The new mobile app will be available in September to Sprint customers that have select Android phones. The app will be available in the Sprint Zone, which is an icon on the smartphone, which sends users to the mobile store right on their phone. American Express has wanted to enter the “young and tech savvy” market for some time and this app should get the company there.
Younger consumers are not as big a fan of credit cards as their parents were perhaps, but the mobile app brings the American Express name to that crowd. Other than credit card users, American Express had little reach and with a mobile app the company can get into far corners of the globe where cash is typically preferred.
Serve puts online, offline and mobile payments all in one place for a user and the service is fundable from a bank account, credit card, debit card or another person’s Serve account, similar to Paypal. American Express would like to get rid of the traditional forms of payment like cash, debit cards or cash and make payments easier. A Serve account can be accessed through apps on Apple and Android devices or through websites like Facebook.com.
With over 51 million customers, Sprint Nextel will be a good testing ground for the digital wallet app. American Express is hoping that in the future, users will be able to send money to friends, pay normal household bills and even buy things online through the app. Another great option is that each account comes with a reloadable Serve “pre-paid” card that can be used anywhere American Express is accepted.
