I hold my breath and click "Allow" on Facebook. I get that sinking feeling whenever that "Allow or Don't Allow Access" dialogue box comes up. That's the Gen X in me rearing its' ugly head (Gen Yers don't think twice). I have cause to pause because I'm allowing American Express access to ALL my Facebook data. AND more importantly, now Facebook has my banking information.

Recently American Express and Facebook teamed up to offer Serve, a person to person payment mechanism within Facebook. It's a preloadable account which also comes with a plastic card that you can use to make purchases in stores or online as well.

I wanted to know how easy it would be to pay one of my Facebook friends so I talked my brother into signing up as well. Signing up entails, as I said earlier, allowing AmEx access to all your Facebook data and submitting your banking information from which to fund your Serve account. To my surprise, the account appeared with $10 on it - have I sold my soul to the devil for ten bucks?

Once the accounts were set up, which took a few minutes, I was able to pay my brother very easily, free of charge. A plastic card came in the mail and I can use it to shop online or in stores. Adoption will be the barrier to Serve success because I suspect that most Gen Xers and Boomers won't make that deal with the devil - but hey, I took one for the payments team. I could be pleasantly surprised if my FB friends start sending me money! As always, I'll keep you posted.