Not Shut Down
 

I've been using BB for MS for about the past 2 years or so, with Visa gift cards at $500 to meet the minimum spend initially for the 100,000 mile exec card and most recently for the personal and business cards. Last used them about 2-3 months ago but I used the BB via Kate this past Friday for 1 $500 VGC and for another 3 $500 VGC this past Sunday.

Thus far all is "normal" for my BB account.

I have used my BB heavily in the past for msing and am still going. Granted, I took an almost-year-long break, but I'm back at it and so far so good.

Another update.

Was able to load another 1.5K in SMGCs to BB. Had a total of 8K in the account and then decided to just go ahead and use Bill Pay rather than transferring the funds to my linked account. Was able to pay off the CCs without any problem. Will see if account gets closed at end of month and report back, but so far so good.

If my account doesn't get closed, I'm guessing it was just a single wave of closures and that, as long as you don't abuse MS (i.e. maybe you just use it to meet a minimum spend bonus here and there), you may still be able to use BB for limited MS.

In summary:

- BB opened pre-shutdown wave, but never used.
- Purchased and loaded 4K in SMGCs towards the end of January 2016 to meet minimum spend.
- Used another CC to purchase and load 4K in SMGCs in February 2016 for minimum spend.
- Used BB Bill Pay to pay off the 2 CCs.
- Still no account closure notice, but the month isn't over...

Stay tuned.

New BB
 

Had 4 family serve cards and all shut down. Applied and approved for new BB for my sister today. She didn't have one of the Serve's. Plan on meeting min spend on future CC churns. We'll see how long it will last.

Has anybody gotten shut down for loading $1-2k in GC per month and using the funds to bill pay?

I'm planning on doing that amount each month and pay rent/car/CC.

Do the shut downs have any impact on other amex cards such as SPG, Hilton, Platinum? I have those 3 and wouldn't want them closed or affected, reviewed if my BB gets shut down.

Some people have reported that they did a mix of MS and Bill Pay and were shut down. I plan on doing an experiment and only doing Bill Pay with one of my BB's, and if I get shut down, then I'm suspecting it's how the BB is being loaded since we all load usually $500 at a time...

any shutdowns after Jan 8?

So far, I have not seen any reports of Amex someone's credit cards after shutting down their BB or Serve card. But that doesn't guarantee that they won't in the future or that future applications will not be denied. Personally, my Serve was closed and I'm not too worried about it.

I was shut down in Jan. and was approved for an amex business card last week. I also got a targeted amex prg application in the mail yesterday even though I had the card about 3 years ago. So far for me at least it seems just a bluebird shutdown, but only time will tell.

How did you get approved? Any special tricks? Did you wait 31 days from closing?

Interesting. Will Amex know if the load is being done with a GC instead of a real debit card? Because if its the amounts that flag accounts we can just do random loads instead of $500.

I believe he said he applied for his sister who never had BB or serve before.

Thanks, I think my brain intentionally blocked that sentence out. I was hoping for a way to get around the shutdown.

no one knows.

there was someone who got shutdown for not MSing but using BB for billpays.

I think if you're not profitable (not using BB for purchases), Amex may shut you down.

Two questions. Sorry, completely new to MS.

1. Has anyone tried opening a new account after the shutdown on 1/8 and was able to MS?

2. Those who got shutdown, did you lose whatever money was in the acct?