Serve from American Express: Spend, Send and Receive Money Easily! {$100 Serve Credit Giveaway}

This post is sponsored by 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!

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Do you remember back to when you actually had cash in your wallet? There was a time that it was common to have real money with you so that when it came time to pay the babysitter or split the check after an evening out with friends or chip in your share for a group gift that it wasn't a big deal.

Instead, everything to do with collecting, paying, sharing and owing money seems to have turned into a much bigger hassle now that not too many people can pull out a $10 or $20 bill to pass over. However, thanks to Serve from American Express, handling those awkward "friend owes friend money" moments just got incredibly easier.

The new way to settle up with friends/buddies instantly via email or mobile device, Serve is a next-generation digital payments platform that helps you organize your money, send and receive funds, and manage payment requests — all from a single, unified online account. Basically, Serve makes paying and being paid as simple as sending an email!

Setting up for a Serve account is quick and easy and in about a minute I had my information entered in and was ready to go. To verify that you are you, it is required that you either connect your Serve account to your bank account or enter in the last four digits of your social security number (there is no credit check required).

As Serve is backed by American Express and is 100% secure, I didn't have a problem opting for the latter and appreciated that my account was verified and ready for use almost immediately. Heck, Serve even gave me $10 just for signing up... and if I refer my friends, I will receive $5 for each one that enrolls (up to $50).

In about a week, my Serve debit card arrived in my mailbox and, after activation, I was set to use it exactly as I would with any other debit card (including making withdrawals from the ATM if you have connected to your bank account).

So what did I do first? Only one of our favorite things:

Dinner with good friends, of course!

There aren't too many things that we enjoy more than spending time with awesome people... and eating tasty food is always a big plus.

There was coloring to keep the kids occupied...

...and even yummy ice cream for dessert.

It's no wonder that there were smiles all around!

To top off the night, I loved that there was no tension or stress when the bill came. You're able to email money via your own Serve account right to your recipient's email address. Once they've confirmed the transfer, your payment is complete and they're paid in full. And when it comes to actually using your funds, simply pay with your Serve card (which can be reloaded at any time) just like normal.

Couldn't be easier! It's free to register for Serve and how you use it is up to you. You can shop with Serve. Or you can sell things with Serve. You can use it online or off. The future of sending and receiving money is here and being able to do it safely, securely and quickly with Serve is great for all of us.

Even better? How about some extra spending cash to do just that (on top of the $10 you'll automatically receive when you try Serve)? Thanks to their generosity...

One lucky person will win a $100 credit to their Serve account!

To enter to win: Visit Serve and sign up for an account. Then return here and leave me a comment saying that you did and be sure to include the email address that you used for your Serve account so that they can verify it.

{Update: This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations, Nicole Larsen!}

That's it! Easy peasy! This giveaway will end on December 27th at 11:59pm and AMEX/Serve will randomly select a winner. Just remember to sign up for Serve and you'll even 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 by clicking here. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.