American Express takes aim at mobile payments

American Express Co. unveiled a new digital payment and commerce platform called Serve. The move is clearly an attempt to compete with the likes of PayPal Inc. and the growing number of mobile payment platforms on deck like Isis, the joint venture among three of the top four U.S. carriers.
Serve will enabler users to make purchases and person-to-person payments online, via mobile devices and in person at merchants who accept American Express cards. The platform will merge multiple payment options into a single account that can be funded from a bank account, debit, credit card or another Serve account.
Serve can be accessed via mobile applications on Apple Inc.’s iOS and Google Inc.’s Android platforms as well as Serve.com and Facebook.
“Serve is a new type of payment platform that isn’t tied to a single card or mobile operating system. It’s a flexible, easy to use platform, which from day one brings tremendous assets to the alternative payments space and gives consumers an option to shop on-line and off-line at millions of merchants who accept American Express,” said Dan Schulman, group president of enterprise growth at American Express.
“We intend to quickly evolve the Serve platform by adding new features and functionality as we learn from consumer and merchant experiences. To encourage a broad cross-section of people to experience the benefits and convenience of Serve, we are working with a range of partners to integrate Serve as a payment method and deliver customized offers, and we will waive most consumer fees for the next six months.”