As reported in Free-quent Flyer Book (great blog - check it out) and DansDeals (Really great blog - check it out - although sometimes overwhelming even for the knowledgable), you can now load your Serve card at Family Dollar with Vanilla Visa Gift Cards acting as debit cards.
Only load a maximum of $500 a day. If you try to load more the register will say that you were successful and the money will leave your Visa card, but it won't be on your Serve card.
Why I care?
I already decided to switch over to Serve from Bluebird because of their online free credit card loading and since almost all the features that made Bluebird great have been discontinued or added to Serve.
That being said, since I moved to Teaneck I hardly ever make trips to Walmart to load to Bluebird or Serve since it takes about an hour.
Now, I can load at Family Dollar in Teaneck which is less than two miles from my house.
Here is how to do it:
1) Bring your Serve Card and Vanilla Visa to the cashier, along with a Vanilla Reload card that you can find only at Family Dollar
2) Say "I would like to add $500 (or whichever amount you are adding) to my serve card with a Debit Card, please."
3) Hand Vanilla Reload to cashier
4) Swipe Serve card when prompted
5) Swipe Vanilla Visa card when prompted
6) Enter 4 digit pin (I always just choose the last 4 digits of the card)
7) Say "Thank you" after you are approved
8) Go home
9) You will receive an email from American Express that your Serve Reload was Successful.