No company is too legit to quit a service — not even one of the largest card issuers in America.
Last week, American Express announced that it is eliminating one of the carrier billing features attached to its digital payment and commerce platform Serve. Effective July 26, Bill My Phone will no longer be offered through Serve. Bill My Phone lets users initiate online purchases with their U.S. wireless telephone number.
“We learned a lot from Bill My Phone, but have decided to focus right now on direct consumer sign-up in the near term,” an American Express spokesperson told Bank Innovation in an email. “The digital payments and commerce space is rapidly changing. As such, we continue testing and learning to figure out what makes the most sense for Serve, our customers and partners…That said, we are working with Verizon on new features that bring even more value to consumers, and we look forward to discussing further in the future.”
Last August, David Messenger, executive vice president of Amex’s online and mobile unit, told Bank Innovation that forming alliances, particularly with telecom carriers, was key to Serve’s long-term success.