My WM CSR's all know what I'm doing, not in graphic detail but generally. They occasionally mention "other people who do what you do." Same with Simon Malls.

I know for a fact that Simon knows exactly what's going on, as I've talked to people at Simon HQ in Indiana. I assume WM must know, not necessarily every CSR at every store, but at the corporate level. Interestingly, I spoke with someone in WM compliance or legal about 3 years ago and they said that after looking it up, MSing is NOT allowed by the card issuers, but they still haven't done anything about it.

I get shut down now and then, but so far there's always another bank or card issuer. I figure that I'm one customer and not enough to move the needle, so I'll just go all out until the whole house of cards collapses.

There was a front-page article in the Wall Street Journal this week about MSing, but it focused on signup bonuses. Creative spend wasn't even mentioned. So far, banks seem to be pushing the limit at the top (i.e. going over 2%), not racing to the bottom like airlines do (as soon as one company cuts benefits, they all do). One day we'll wake up and somebody's 2% card will become 1.5%, and then someone else's, and eventually we'll all be out of business. (Assuming that others, like me, would find the profit margin at 1.5% CB too small to be worthwhile.)