njm42

Which providers charged you a cash advance fee?

I have only used one card (on the 13th) and the statement has already been produced - no signs of a cash advance fee as yet....

Have you used the same underlying card with Curve? Did that have any issues?

the_real_a

Barclaycard, MBNA and Creation

I have used all three on curve without any issues. Although the MCC appears to be the same (revolut and curve), revolut seems to be coded manually in the CC systems to attract the fee.

MJ_Stars

Hi,

Does anyone have any suggestions on ways to liquidate/withdraw money from prepaid cards such as optimum without the added fee?

Thanks

TheUrbanite

Have You Tried The Sprout As An Alternative ?

https://www.sproutaccount.co.uk/

cgtechuk

Anyone able to confirm if this still is the case with Curve?

cysyuen

Folks you need to be very careful on what you do and not get greedy or otherwise you get your accounts shut down like me.

I have now asked for a review.

Can't say much at this stage but it was a HUGE sum overall.

Also, please recommend a place where I can store all my unused points?

TheUrbanite

Without knowing which schemes/financial institutions are involved, it's hard to advise.

If you are saying what I think you are saying then the points are the least of your worries and should probably be left where they are.

cysyuen

Well it is an Amex shutdown, happening during my trip in Asia and Australia. Due to fly to Syd this evening but given I have no AUD and all Amex cards becoming plastic, chances of going are slim. I tried to get to the manager but other than emailing on my behalf, the person on the phone can't do much. In fact, he is being subtly rude to me. His tone of voice basically implies I need to #### off and stop wasting his time - - it is bound to be cancelled and he doesn't care if I am overseas or not.

TheUrbanite

Blimey - that's unfortunate. Sorry, have no experience at all with Amex investigations, I tread carefully with them.

I can't speak for anyone else, but my understanding is there is an upper limit to what can be done in the UK with regards to volume, which is nowhere near what seems to be possible in the US. Whilst it's possible to do $1m a month, doing £1m in a year might get you a letter direct from Amex, Mastercard or Visa banning you from using any card which uses their network.

As a MSer, don't you have any alternative accounts you can use for forex - Revolut, Lloyds credit card etc?

Also if you were using the MR scheme, if you can you might want to transfer the points to your preferred scheme now.

luckyjim

So back in November you were warning everybody on here to be careful. You even spelt out the Amex review process step-by-step to drive home the point.

Any yet, somehow, you've managed to get your own account locked? But not so locked that you can't still move your points.

Can't say much at this stage, eh?

No need. I think we've figured it out.

cysyuen

It's not a bad thing to be shut down. Can always start again later with a clean profile. I am not losing much anyways and I can even use this time to rebuild credit profile, which is a good thing in itself.

the_real_a

Do you have an update on the situation. Did AMEX let you off or shut you down in the end?

cysyuen

I have decided to close down in the end. The guys in the other team did ask I wanted any retention offers which I have declined. They respected my decision and proceeded to close my accounts one by one. The refunds came a day or two after two on membership fees and I have the option to cash out by cheque or bank transfers.

I have shut the cards myself so that it shows on the credit report I closed them. I manged it get another Amex card overseas (Amex Green) so I can still put travel related and big spending on it, though its on another currency.

I have uses MSE Credit Eligibility checker, which I find very accurate, to test if Amex would accept me under my current credit score. The results came and said I will be 90% likely be accepted again, excluding the fact that I may get rejected even before being checked due to past relationship with them.

Overall, I am okay with me closing my accounts. I have done £800k after all and earned a million points.

s1362083

Wow, in how long? I remember being pleased with my £1k semi-manufactured spend a while ago 😎

cysyuen

Seven months. I do maintain a spreadsheet to keep track of it. It follows a strict guideline but I skipped the part before money comes back in. That was my few mistakes, other than doing MS on a charge card.