According to Doctor of Credit, many DPs indicate that people who recently applied for the AMEX Platinum 100,000-point welcome bonus have been seeing an "Unable to process your request" message when trying to transfer MR points, and their MR accounts are then frozen. (Their credit card accounts do not appear to be affected and can still be used normally.) Reports vary on how long the freeze lasts, with some saying it could be as long as 6-8 weeks.

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I also got in on the recent 100,000-point welcome bonus, but since I only have a few thousand points in my MR account right now, I have no reason to transfer them anyway. An online customer service rep also just confirmed that the 100,000-point welcome bonus on my Platinum card is still valid.

Possible Outcomes

Based on the original blogger’s guess, AMEX probably won’t shut down large numbers of accounts or manually review every single cardholder, simply because too many people applied this time. However, certain “creative” ways of using AMEX may be affected, with the spotlight pointed at MPX.
That said, I and some of my friends have a few different theories of our own. Specifically, the possible outcomes could include:

  • Large-scale FRs (very possible)
  • AMEX following Citi’s lead and refusing to honor bonuses on a large scale (less likely)
  • Changes to the MR transfer system, i.e. an MR devaluation (less likely)
  • A sign that AMEX is collapsing (haha)

What You Should Watch Out For

  • Although there are no data points yet showing that credit card accounts are being frozen too, to avoid an FR, it’s probably best not to put through a large volume of spend or unusually patterned transactions in a short period of time. If you do MS, you may want to keep a lower profile for now.
  • If you recently applied for the AMEX Platinum 100,000 offer, it’s probably best not to try transferring MR points for the next few days. Wait and see if more information comes out.
  • If you did not recently apply for the AMEX Platinum 100,000 offer, a small number of DPs suggest MR transfers are not affected.

We’ll keep updating this post as more information comes in about this sudden development. We also welcome more DPs related to this issue.
Did you apply for the AMEX Platinum 100,000-point welcome bonus offer? Come share your thoughts.