Tech Forum

I have a Bluebird account with AmEx, which is an online prepaid checking account card for bill-pay services. It is not a credit card, but rather a cash account for paying bills online. I have a routing number and checking account number, but I received the following error e-mail when I entered these for account information at lds.org:

Bank account Bluebird; ****** has been deleted from your online donor profile. Donations can no longer be made from this bank account.
You have received this email for one of the following possible reasons:
1. You deleted the bank account from your online donor profile in the Online Donation application
2. We have received notification from your bank that the account information you provided was incorrect or your bank returned a transaction as unauthorized
3. You have had consecutive donations returned from your bank

Any help on how I might use a Bluebird account to make a donation? Should I use the number on the face of the card instead of the

You might find something with the Mastercard/Visa label....or use an actual bank account. I found this from Consumer Reports:

Analysis: Prepaid Cards Used in Addition to a Bank Account
The highest rated prepaid card for people looking for a prepaid card to use
with a bank account is Bluebird by American Express and Walmart. Bluebird
comes with no monthly fee, free access to in-network ATMs, and paper
checks for payments.14 Bluebird’s one drawback is that it is American
Express branded, and therefore consumers may find that the card is not as
widely accepted as prepaid cards branded with Visa or MasterCard. The
second highest rated prepaid card, Chase Liquid, has low fees and useful
features such as free bill pay, access to in-network ATMs, and free cash
loads at branches and some Chase ATMs.15 Rounding out the top three,
Green Dot Prepaid Visa has similar features to Chase Liquid at a similar price
point. All of the top three - Bluebird, Chase Liquid and Green Dot Prepaid
Visa - provide clear, easy to understand disclosures.

I think the real question is if that account accepts the type of transaction the church is trying to use (ACH?) I'd suggest talking with the bank. If they turned down the transaction, they should have a record of it and would be able to explain it to you.

I took a quick look at the Bluebird Member Agreement (see https://www.bluebird.com/legal/member-agreement.html).

I don't think it's going to work with the church's online donations tool. Although the account does have checks, each check must be preauthorized. That makes me think that an ACH transaction to withdraw funds isn't going to work.

Bluebird does offer an online bill pay service. Another option you have for church donations is through bill pay. I'm not totally certain if it will work with Bluebird, but it's worth a try (see https://www.bluebird.com/legal/member-agreement.html#paying bills-Pay Bills Service) (there are spaces in that URL to go to the anchor; they hyperlink will take you there). You can email donations @ldsChurch.org and request to be set up for bill pay. You can't donate to every possible category with the Bill Pay method, but you can do most of them. The church will send you information on the available categories.