Using Serve to make your life easier (and a Giveaway!)

Do you guys carry cash on you? I’m one of those people who literally spend cash like there’s a hole burning in my pocket. One day I have a couple twenties on me, the next I have no idea where all my money went… So I basically just stopped carrying cash with me. It’s just better that way.

But there’s always those nights where everyone is out and I’m the only one with a card and no cash. Usually I end up paying the bill and people give me cash, or we all throw in our cards and have the bill split. I am sure our server always appreciates that! American Express has come up with a solution for that very situation. It’s aptly called Serve. Instead of boring you with the details of what they’re all about or how it works, I’m going to show you how I used Serve on a girls night out the other day.

First I sent an email to a couple of my girlfriends to see if anyone wanted to get together for drinks and dinner. Shockingly, we were able to set a date fairly easily. Once that hurtle was overcome, we had to decide where to go. We all agreed we wanted to try something new. After quite a few emails back and forth, we decided on The Biltmore Grill in Newton. A key factor in that decision was the fact that they have Chicken and Waffles on the menu. We all agreed that there were so many things we wanted to try, that we’d order a little of everything and split it.

This isn’t a restaurant review, but I have to tell you the food there was comfort food to the max. The chicken and waffles were definitely the star of the evening and I really appreciated that they do beer flights. I enjoyed a variety of seasonal beers. I feel like there aren’t enough places to get a flight of beer nearby…

Ok so here’s where I tell you about how Serve made my life easier that night. First, I had already signed up for a Serve account online (you get a FREE $10 just for signing up). Second, I had installed the Serve app on my Android phone. And lastly, my Serve credit card had already come in the mail!

One thing to note about the credit card. It doesn’t have your name on it. I found that somewhat odd, but since it works like a pre-paid credit card, there’s no harm in someone using the card if you lost it. You could simply remove all funds from the card by going online or into your app.

So when the bill came that night, I got out my Serve credit card and paid for the entire bill myself. While the server was running the card, I logged in to my account on my phone.

I used the “Split the Bill” option within the app and put in the amount of the bill, the tip that I wanted to leave, and the number of people at dinner.

On the next screen, I put in everyone’s names (the app uses your address book to identify everyone via phone number or email address). Notice those bars under everyone’s name? You can use those to allocated different amounts for each person. It defaults to splitting the bill evenly, but it’s nice to have the option to have different people pay different amounts.

Since I was using the app to request money from others, they don’t have to have a Serve account at this point. To actually use Serve to send money, they would have to sign up for a Serve account.

The next screen prompted me for a message to include in the request.  Once I hit submit, each of the girls was notified with an email in their Inbox requesting the amount due for their portion of the bill.

And I got transaction numbers so I could track the transactions on my app or online at Serve.com.

Once the payments have been made through Serve, the transactions will move from pending to completed.

While I was playing around with the app, I found some other useful things I wanted to share. First, check out all the options available when I logged into the app.

The Pizza Party option caught my eye. Check it out, you can divide the pizza bill by number of slices!

Another option that seems useful would be to link subaccounts. I could imagine using subaccounts to provide your children’s allowance or setting aside a certain amount of money for holiday shopping for example.

Overall, Serve was very easy to use and I can’t wait to explore the other options available. And now on to the good stuff, the giveaway!! American Express is offering one lucky reading a $100 Serve credit! (the winner will have to sign up for a Serve account to claim the prize)

Only one entry per person. To enter, leave a comment by midnight on 12/27 answering this question: What are your plans for the holidays?

To answer my own question, Hubby and I are working until Thursday, then we’re off the rest of the year. We’ll be heading down to his mom’s for Christmas with the family. There will be lots of food, family, and good times.

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received a $250 stipend to try Serve from American Express. Sign up for Serve and receive $10 credit towards your first use. Comment below within the next 7 days for your chance to win an extra $100 credit to your account! Official sweepstakes rules and regulations may be found here: http://www.foodbuzz.com/blogs/4622317-win-serve-dollars-giveaway-official-rules