I think the lesson here is that no one is safe at this point. If you still have a card, spend it into the ground. That's what I intend to do.

Three to four months of easy MS is still pretty nice, especially these days.

Is the point in wiki about only 1 load FD/store per day total still valid?

OneVIP is loadable at FD up to $600/store/day, up to $500 per individual transaction. Dollar Generals loads in my area are cash only.

Presumably the "Free Reloads" Serve card version works the same way with same limits at FD- will be testing later this week

I've loaded Serve at FD hundreds of times at nearly two dozen stores, several times 8 stores per day tightly clustered around Staples and OD GC promos and have never run into a load-related problem for $500 or less transactions. The 1x/day/store FD load rule across all Serve cardholders likely never in place in my area but might (?) be/have been applicable in other markets.

Thanks. Do you also know if transferring money from spouse serve account to my bank account will work?

afaik, amex flags accounts that attempt to transfer to accounts whose name is different from the account holder. In case you don't see the transfer succeed, you know why.

so the only way I would be able to get funds out this account would be via ATM then?

if she's on joint account with you so both your names are on the account it won't likely be flagged BUT if she attempts to transfer funds in her name to your bank that is in your name only, expect it to get flagged for manual review.

you can still take out your funds up to $750/day, max $2K per month.

IMO, there is no such a thing as being careful about amex prepaids, they'll catch on to MS schemes and the only way to dodge it is to close account before they shut you down and ban your SSN. It's a guessing game when the ax is about to fall :cool:

If you want to close a Serve account before the ax falls, can you do it by secure message or do you have to call in and talk to a CSR?

And today is the 1 year anniversary of the massive Serve shutdowns that hit many hard last January 8. Never forget!

I just empty the account and close without SM or calling in. Done.

PSA to newbies who sign up using OTHER people's name/SSN/address, be aware that you CANNOT transfer funds from THEIR accounts to a bank account that's in YOUR name (people do this because they're the ones adding funds to account but can't get their own prepaid for whatever reasons). Such account will surely be flagged and potentially frozen for fraud. Think of other ways to take out YOUR funds, you should've made plans before signing up accounts in other people's SSN/addy.

IF (big IF) you trust the person to give you your funds later if deposited to THEIR own bank account, do so BUT if you're not sure you can trust the person and you're NOT ready to part with such amount and destroy relationship with them, DON'T!

thanks mamibear. In my case the other person isn't living here anymore and so doesn't have a bank account. Anybody know if bill pay to my CC also be flagged as fraud?

But how do you communicate to AmEx that you're closing the account as opposed to letting it stay open with a zero balance? Is that a way to do it by logging into your account? I haven't explored how to do it, so I'm clueless.

Go to the website, it's under account closure. Follow step by step instructions. Done.

you're welcome :)