Forgive me if this is an ignorant question, but how exactly is Amex being harmed by MS? Do the loads cost them money or something? Do they pay a fee when money is transferred to a bank account, or via bill pay?

If Amex is losing money as a result of MS, I can understand their move. If not, what is the rationale?

data point: no email shut down...loaded 3 $500 gift cards from late dec to early jan. and paid cc within few days of load. Those were my only transactions in over a year.

One account. Did not max the limit. Paid regular bills from the account with the very rare purchase. Never took cash out via ATM or check. Got my email today. Loaded exclusively with GCs. Last load was a couple days ago.

That's my data for you collectors.

Going to hold out for a while on closing the account to see if anything changes.

well i guess i can be happy i didnt waste my time on using the account for other things...

fwiw data point: i did not max out bb every month and was a bit short of the yearly max. i think i had it for 2 yrs and i only had one acct. shutdown today with emailed form letter.

Update:

I sent in scans of my ID and bank statement after receiving an email (triggered by trying to do a bank transfer load) that requested that information.

I just now was able to load $20 onto the account using a bank transfer. Looks like I've survived.

Now to be careful, bide my time, and try to MS in six months or so, when this has all blown over...

Here are the emails I got telling me to send in the info, and then that my account was back up:

Wife and I both shut down. 1 card each, and we only did once a month 1k online loads.

Can we still buy MO at WM with VGC ?

Only if you ask reallllllly nicely.

Only 1 of the 4 I manage for my family got the email. All other seem to be fine so far. Loaded the max on every card every month. Actually used a couple for purchases and paid bills using all of them.

Check "Junk" or "Spam" email folder... just so you don't get a nasty surprise when you try to load.

Cheers,

PedroNY

No more fat scooters

I tried signing up for Serve, never had it either. After filling out all the information I got a message that said I was not approved for a Serve card at this time.

How do people legitimately use BB for non-MS activities? And what percentage of Amex prepaid cardholders have been shut down? Did Amex realize that 99% of its prepaid customers are having their accounts suspended?

Nah, there will be more and more noob questions as the stampede begins, everyone searching for the next easy option. Everything else will get stressed quickly.

I think today's events will have way more far-reaching impact than many would guess right now:

Bluebird and Serve have been the 800 pound gorilla in this game, for a long time. Long enough for tens of thousands of people to become hooked. I would guess that they account for 98% of all MS activity.

Yes, there are (and have been) some other options. The others (remaining) were already more fragile even before this, and that was with the relatively small number of people hitting them. Now, when the collective weight of all the Bluebird/Serve refugees descend on these fragile options, they are going to collapse quickly. As each option disappears, the next one will die more quickly than the last. Death spiral - it's not going to be pretty.

End of an era indeed. :(

Positive things?

No more trips to Walmart.

It'll be easy to find parking at the mall again.
And my wife will have fewer opportunities to be tempted by something warm and gooey from Cinnabon.

And maybe Million Moron Smeagol might have trouble making his alimony payments...