American Express Bluebird Card Deceptive Marketing Internet

The packaging will not tell you, but if you are obtaining this card for purposes of anything other than cash deposits or payroll (ie if you get government funds, tax refund, or educational funds), don't waste your time. Nowhere in any of their literature does it state that you cannot deposit government funds into this account. It says on their website when you are registering their card, but not until you've already spent the money and gone through all that effort.

The American Express Bluebird Card is advertised as a good alternative to a bank account. This is why my husband and I opted to purchase one. When we got the packet home and registered online, and attempted to link up a direct deposit to the card, this is when we discovered this card is for EMPLOYEE PAYROLL ONLY. Having a government based direct deposit is not permissible. If this information had been printed on the packaging on the card (it's on the website but not on the package you get at the store), we would not have bothered with it. 

We chose this card so we could have my husband's VA travel reimbursement deposited into it, because the government is no longer issuing cash or paper checks and is requiring all recipients of such funds to provide a routing number and bank account where the funds can be deposited.