I hear it all the time, “Why does my credit\debit card shackle me with these ridiculous cash back offers? I just want freebies for my farm!” Ok, I’m lying – I never hear that. I’m absolutely convinced no one has either, which makes the recent announcement from Zynga just a tad bit odd. They have joined forces with Serve, a pre-paid American Express company, to deliver Zynga Serve Rewards to Farmvillians worldwide.

“We’re excited to partner with American Express to invent new ways for people to experience Zynga play in more parts of their day,” said Mark Pincus CEO and Founder of Zynga. “Together we can add surprise and delight to every day shopping.”

The process is slightly simple: first, you have to “plant” the Serve Money Tree inside your Farmville game from the Marketplace. Play with the tree to get the option to sign up, clicking sends you over to the Serve website. Sign up for one the Zynga cards and then wait for it to show up. Once it does, activate the card, fund it and then go shopping! There’s quite a few ways to earn Farmville cash, like signing up, shopping, etc. The downside to the promotion is Serve tacks on fees for things like adding funds to the card, 2.9% of the amount funded. Plus the promotion is only scheduled to run until the end of July.

Might be easier to just go out and buy some pre-paid Farmville cards. Hit the break to check out the press release…

Zynga and American Express Launch Zynga Serve Rewards Program

Industry Leading Partnership Will Link Everyday Spending to Online Virtual Rewards for Millions of Zynga Players through Co-Branded Prepaid Serve Card

NEW YORK & SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–American Express and Zynga, the world’s leading provider of social games services, today announced the launch of Zynga Serve Rewards, a new program that is tied to the Serve digital wallet and breaks new ground in the prepaid card market by offering rich in-game incentives for everyday spending.

“We’re excited to partner with American Express to invent new ways for people to experience Zynga play in more parts of their day,” said Mark Pincus CEO and Founder of Zynga. “Together we can add surprise and delight to every day shopping.”

“We’re thrilled to expand our relationship with Zynga and provide an easy way for players to earn Zynga virtual game cash by learning about Serve and signing up to receive the many benefits of our digital wallet,” said Dan Schulman, President of Enterprise Growth, American Express. “As the commerce landscape continues to change, and online and offline spending converges, Serve is focused on partnering with companies like Zynga to create unique value for our customers in the environments they love.”

FarmVille allows players to cultivate their Farms by plowing, planting and harvesting crops and trees. As part of the Zynga Serve Rewards phased program, FarmVille players now have the ability to plant an interactive Serve Money Tree in their Farms which will give them the ability to level up in game and earn Zynga Farm Cash for virtual awards redemption. Once players place the tree, they will be prompted to take the following four steps to earn Farm Cash in connection with the co-branded card through July 31, 2012.

1) Successfully register for the Zynga Serve Rewards program to receive a Zynga Serve co-branded prepaid card in the mail.

2) Add money to the Serve account through any funding source including a bank account, debit card, credit card, or cash using a GreenDot MoneyPak.

3) After receiving the Zynga Serve Rewards card, activate the card online or by calling the activations line.

4) Use the Zynga Serve Rewards card everywhere American Express® Cards are accepted in the U.S. for purchases and receive online, in-game rewards in real time. At launch, only the first five purchases of $25 or more on the Zynga Serve Rewards card will earn Farm Cash rewards. As the program expands, all purchases will receive in-game rewards tracked through an in-game dashboard.

Later this year, the Zynga Serve Rewards program will include new kinds of loyalty incentives, tying everyday spend to Zynga’s Game Cash in ways that go beyond the initial first five purchases of $25 or more. Similar Zynga Serve Rewards programs will be introduced in additional games such as CastleVille and CityVille over the course of the year, so players can redeem rewards to purchase a variety of virtual goods from their favorite games.

For more information on Zynga Serve Rewards visit: www.Serve.com/Zynga

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