The famous Bluebird and Serve cards from American Express are being discontinued on June 2, 2026. You can see the FAQ on this page.
This brings back fond memories. For those newer to the site, there were a number of years when it was all the rage to unload Visa gift cards for free by loading your Bluebird prepaid card and then using your Bluebird account to pay off the credit card. (See previous posts on the site about Bluebird at this link.)
I’m honestly a bit out of the loop on all this now, but I believe it ended when Walmart added a $3.74 fee to load Bluebird. I think people are still using the card in various ways? Let us know in the comments.
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I still have them and use it to load BB at FD. I’ll be heartbroken in 2026 💔
I only used it to add money from AMEX to pay for other credit card bills. I did not buy gift cards. I have never been shut down and have been going for well over a decade now.
I'm surprised they didn't shut it down years ago.
Yes, those were the days. My favorite was their feature that lets you load money from your Amex credit card straight from your computer. 🤩 I had about 4 of each card at one point.
I used it to purchase gc at the mall a few times and got 1%. Cashed out for MO. COVID put an end to that. Some of my cards got closed bc of violation of terms, ironically when I had not even been using the card. Got another closed acct email a few days ago.
Ah those days where you could reload Serve and BlueBird directly with a credit card... RIP
Reading these comments was fun.
🎶 Thanks for the memories 🎶
I finally just threw away all my vanilla visas from this time yesterday. I was literally able to make my house payment with 2% back on drugstores and P2 let alone what I got when it was sign up bonus time…before life got expensive and I “didn’t spend”. Bluebird helped me be where I am today! lol yes I bought a box
LOL. I thought that I was the only one who saved them like trophies, like a serial k*ller. 🤣 Actually, I saw a blogger post their cards a few yrs ago.
I JUST cut up all of mine! A big box full. I think Serve shut me down in 2018. 😂😂
It mostly ended when they shut us all down suddenly. What a sad email that was.
I am DEVASTATED by this news. This card was the best "burner" checking account/debit card because it didn't allow overdrafts or ACH withdraws.
Is there a comparable account that will let me load money into it using a debit card? Bluebird is a nice way to max-out Discover's $30/month checking rewards by making a debit purchase to fund a Bluebird account.
(Here's hoping CapitalOne doesn't kill this checking product in the near future)