Curious if folks who did massive volume with PPK to pay mortgages etc. were OK and only the ones who used PPK to pay back AMEX got axed, that makes a huge difference.

where did you hear/read abou it?

doctorofcredits comments. So basically you generate the charge on AMEX card through PPK+Plastiq (bill pay) to pay itself. Clever but reckless. Sounds like DPs indicate all of those were shut down. But it's not clear how many, if any, were shut down for "legit" but massive volume on PPK to do payments to auto loans, mortgages, etc.

If some of the posts are to be believed, there were ppl shut down for doing relatively light amount (20-40k) of legit billpays, like car, mortgage or home equity loan.

Not well written but showed up on my news.google feed

https://www.godsavethepoints.com/ame...ns-paypal-key/

This piece is such a joke. Check out this gem:


We "figured out ways" to fund PPK with a credit card? LMAO. We aren't hackers. CCs are selectable to PPK by default.

Regarding CITI & S&S:

I have been using my very old citi TYP card at S&S for an average of 2k to 3k each month in the last half year. The second purchase this month was declined. I was told to talk to someone from the Credit Department, who immediately told me that these are GC purchases that are considered cash advances, and warns that CITI does close accounts for those who buy a lot of these.

While it is not difficult to guess from the large amounts that these charges are for GCs, does CITI have L3 data access to know for sure that these are GCs? Will it be safe if one try to split charges to 2 CCs and buy each 500 GC separately?

How long shall I wait before feeling safe again to use CITI cards to buy GCs at S&S?

I would suggest that you try your card today to make a standard purchase of anything.

If it is declined, you know the story. If not, you have time to move every TYP out of your account before the hammer falls. The rats are frolicking in your monetary cupboard and the result I fear may not be positive :(

I'd say you shouldn't buy any GC for a while, if you have eyes on your account you're just asking for a shutdown if you back again. They may have L3 data but even without L3 data a 500+ purchase is probably in the top 1% of grocery purchases so its always going to be an outlier. My suggestion is to open a different card from a different issuer if you want to continue to purchase grocery GCs. I guess it really comes down with how much you value Citi.

I will not use my CITI cards for GC any time soon then. On the other hand, will this likely affect my wife's brand new TYP card? Will she be temporarily safe from being watched due to the attentions on my cards?

Your account and any other account at the same address is at risk for a shutdown if the rats think you are eligible for the naughty list.

I would immediately if not sooner clean out your account of anything valuable (TYPs) and then hope and pray that Citi hasn't sent you the shut down letter.

What I would definitely not do is buy any more GCs on either the spouse's card or yours :o

Let us know the outcome. It does add to our knowledge base.

$2k-$3K is pretty small. It's pretty scary that they declined your card. Were you doing anything silly like cycling, or using a Bill pay service?

Yes, always play safe. The $100 or so profit is not worth the bank shut-down. You are already being watches. Put on some organic spending to blend in.

Citi is extremely sensitive for card spending fraud. But it is not known for the type of spending. I think the alert was triggered by the "fraud". Then when rep looked at the account, they identified the spending pattern of large purchases at grocery stores.

Got a letter in the mail today from al!3nt. Pretty standard letter informing me that my use patterns didn't meet their standards of consumer spending or whatever.

1. Al13nt Visa Signature (3%/2.5%)
2. 15k, opened Apr 2019.
3. 500$ checking/ 1000$ Savings (less recently as they lowered their savings rate substantially and I haven't been using them as a hub)
4. 15k/month, give or take, since account opening.
5. Did not cycle CL
6. I did not Billpay
7. No, I did not post about the bank online.

Got this card late and by the time I had it in my hand most of the good stuff had been neutered. I didn't do the Venmo thing. Mostly I used it for things like grocery gift card promotions, closed loop GCs, etc. Lately I had been using it as a Paypal Key card and I suspect that might actually have been what got me the chop. So, if you are using this card hard with PPK, take this info into account.