關卡狂魔又來了：Discover Miles 和 Paceline 卡被關

關於被關卡狂魔

作為擼卡最瘋狂的網誌作者之一——Miles per Day，被關卡對他來說已經是家常便飯。這回他又被關了兩張，一張是 Discover Miles，一張是冷門卡 Paceline。原因當然是擼得太狠了！不過我還是很佩服他這種身體力行、帶頭擼卡的人，所以跟大家分享一下他的事蹟，順便分析一下被關卡的原因。

我決定之後整理一下他被關過的卡，也給大家開拓一下擼卡的思路。

Discover Miles

這張卡看似平平無奇，但在他手上就是神卡。我印象中他已經申請過好幾次了，每次都瘋狂刷卡，畢竟 Discover 在所有銀行裡面算是 G 點比較高的。這張卡首年的現金回贈翻倍，配合 1.5% 所有消費現金回贈，就是首年所有消費 3%。這個 3% 對大多數人來說可能意義不大，但對他這種資金流水極高的人來說， 3% 就很可觀了。

• 他被 Discover 關卡的文章記錄

他 6-7 月的用卡記錄如下，簡單來說就是 cycle 信用額度，也就是在額度較低的情況下，為了多刷，刷完就還款，或者乾脆提前把錢 push 到信用卡上，這樣就可以快速刷卡了。所以從每個月來看，他消費的總金額都是信用卡額度的好幾倍。對銀行來說，就算你每月還清、不欠款，這種 cycle CL 的行為也是有一定風險的。所以大家之後也盡量注意不要做得太多，保持在 2-3 倍 CL 以內一般來說是安全的。

• 6/21 – $3,000 charge (remember I have a $3,000 CL)
• 6/23 – paid off the $3,000 from bank
• 7/5 – $3,000 charge (it took them nearly 2 weeks to clear my CL which I thought was surprisingly long, but I figured it was due to new account.)
• 7/6 – pushed $6,000 of payments
• 7/8 – surprisingly noticed I had CL, so $3,000 CHARGE
• 7/9 – another $3,000 CHARGE
• 7/12 – paid the $3,000 from bank account
• 7/12 – Redeemed my 1.5%
• 7/13 – Pushed a $100 payment.

至於他刷了甚麼，一方面他會倒賣遊戲機、電腦、金幣之類的東西，這個 3% 相當於比一般的 2% 卡多 1%。如果刷 $100,000，就多賺了 $1,000。另一方面，購買 Visa 禮品卡的成本大概是 1% 左右，這個 3% 就相當於額外的 2% 利潤。只要流水夠高，例如刷 $100,000，就是月收入 $2,000，也很可觀。

Evolve Paceline 卡

這是一張新出的卡，大部分人看到的都是送蘋果手錶。不過對擼卡狂魔來說，超市和藥房 5% 現金回贈，簡直就是一大塊肥肉！因為超市和藥房都有出售面值 $500 的 Visa 禮品卡，可以把成本控制在 1%，那麼這張無上限 5% 的卡就相當於有 4% 利潤。至於他刷了多少呢？

• 他被 Evolve Paceline 關卡的文章記錄

每個月 $3,000 多的現金回贈，相當於每個月 $60,000 的流水，持續了三個月。按照我們前面說的成本 1%、利潤 4% 來算，那就是每月賺了 $2,400，總共賺了 $7,200。所以說甚麼開卡送的蘋果手錶，根本不值多少錢……人有多大膽，地有多大產；只要你擼得夠狠，被關卡根本無所謂，錢到手就跑路。

Amazon 帳戶被關，禮品卡被沒收

他從各種渠道購買了 Amazon 禮品卡，存入 Amazon 帳戶，用來購買 Best Buy 禮品卡以及下一些訂單。結果 Amazon 發郵件通知他，說帳戶已被關閉，全部禮品卡也被沒收。

• 原文連結

先不管他有沒有做違規的事，從 Amazon 的角度來看，把從各個商店買回來的大額禮品卡集中存入同一個帳戶，本身看起來就很像那些盜刷信用卡購買 Amazon 禮品卡再銷贓的人。如果持卡人發現被盜刷，並向銀行提出 dispute，損失一般來說會由賣出這張卡的商家承擔。不過，既然是 Amazon 提供的禮品卡，說不定本身就和商家有某些協議，Amazon 也可能因此承受損失。沒收高風險帳戶其實是一個不錯的選擇：一來如果帳戶真的是黑戶，那盜卡者基本上只能認栽，Amazon 賺；二來如果帳戶只是被誤殺，用戶找上門，Amazon 最多也只是恢復帳戶和禮品卡，損失一些口碑，也不算太虧。

當然對我們來說，個人建議不要一次過存入太多 Amazon 禮品卡，最好是要買東西時再存入。不過，這個 miles per day 一向以 hit hard 聞名，他的量肯定不是我們普通用戶能企及的。大家如果只是平時買買信用卡多倍的 5x，應該不需要特別擔心。

作為老手，他的對策也很值得學習。一般來說，只有積極反擊，才不會白白被坑錢。

I think I’m going to have to BBB, CFPB, write to my attorney general, etc because it seems illegal that they can confiscate my GC balance without even giving me a specific reason as to why they closed my account.

花樣作死，不回覆 Fraud Alert，FIA 信用卡被關了..

被關卡之王 Miles per Day 又來了，這次他的 Fidelity fia 信用卡被關了。原因是他在短時間內花了 $10,000，觸發了多次 Fraud Alert，但之後又沒有及時打電話把這些 Alert 清除。銀行打電話聯絡他，也聯絡不上。所以，銀行為了控制信用卡被盜用的風險，直接把他的卡關掉了。

• 原文連結

一般來說，銀行不會直接關你的卡，但風控部門會根據你的風險等級和近期行為作出評估，判斷是否要關卡。而這種多次觸發 fraud alert 卻不處理的情況，在外人看來很像是信用卡已被盜用。所以，如果觸發了 fraud alert 導致信用卡不能刷，大家可以先換另一張卡，但記得之後要打信用卡背面的電話，或者處理一下 Fraud Alert 的郵件。也最好不要多次觸發 Fraud Alert。

Citi 和 Chase 被關卡 DP 三則

三則 DP 均來自 miles per day，這位老哥可以說是 king of shutdown 了，你能叫得出名字的帳戶，他幾乎都被關過。

Citi 關全家

這位讀者有兩張 AMEX 卡的 Statement Balance 比較高，接近 20,000。而且每天都在 Citi 卡上做一些 MS 活動，估計是在擼疫情期間的超市福利。首先，你所有卡的 statement balance 都會出現在信用報告上，銀行可以 soft pull 你的信用報告看到，所以不要以為銀行只有他們自己的數據。當然，你可以在出 statement 之前先還掉一部分，確保出賬單時的 balance 比較低。

Last week, a reader had his Citi accounts shut down. He never spent over CL and figures there were 2 possible reasons. First reason could be because he had 2 recent AMEX statements close totaling over $20K. With the current climate, banks are worried about ability to pay, so they may have gotten nervous that he had balances that high. The second reason is the more common MS method with Citi, which he was doing daily. I’ve heard of others getting shut down due to this as well, so this is more likely the culprit (although once again, I know others who are doing this just fine.)

Either way, the lesson learned is definitely to try not to close cards with high balances in the current environment.

Chase 關全家 1

這位讀者的 7 張個人卡和 checking、saving 都被關了，Chase 也沒有給出確切理由。不過從 checking、saving 也被關來看，似乎不只是信用卡的問題。排除他所說沒有 MO 這點後，看起來有可能是存現金的原因？總之確實比較令人摸不着頭腦。

My Chase closure: current state of affairs. As I reported before, all my 7 Chase personal CCs were closed early July 2020 (while I was on the road) . Later I received a letter which did not give a reason, only “We have decided to close your accounts”. I called the number and was told Chase will not give a reason, no reconsideration is possible and the decision is final. Let’s call this a hard closure. I received another letter that my checking and savings account will be closed on August 5. Fine, I emptied the accounts. I also have a Starbucks account which still works though I drained it today to avoid problems getting my money out, and I have an “You Invest JP Morgan” account. No closure notice on that one but when I inquired, I was told by JP Morgan side that the Chase side had “restricted” the account. He could not figure out why but told me that I needed to move the account out before it would get liquidated (not good because I had appreciated stocks in the account) . This was confirmed by a Chase branch (as far as they understood what an investment account is) .

I also called the Chase reconsideration line (I know, intended for CC refusals) , hoping that someone might disclose something but no luck, and I wrote a letter to Jamie Dimon, asking for clemency (“the punishment doesn’t seem to fit the crime” was my argument) . More about this later.
Now my 1 million UR points. Chase gave me 30 days to use them. I was pretty worried because I didn’t have a sapphire personal card to transfer points out. The rep tried to transfer the points but told me the computer wouldn’t allow it. Instead, a case was created and I would hear within 7-10 business days

Re: the letter, I received a call last Thursday from a Jeanine at the Credit Card Executive Office who told me she would investigate and let me know. She left her phone number in case I wanted to talk. I called yesterday morning and left a message but have not heard back. At this point, I’m ready to let it go. Chase refunded most of my annual fees (even a prorated amount for an AF I paid last December) . If Jeanine ever calls me, I’m going to ask her if there is any way a negative flag like “unsatisfactory relationship” can be removed from my name.

Just FYI, I don’t think I abused Chase in any way this year. I did do 2 x $1500 on Freedom Cards and I did 1 x $5000 on a Marriott card in “groceries” but that is it. I used the Freedom Unlimited at Simon Mall 3 times earlier in the year (Jan-Mar) . Never missed a payment, no MOs in the checking account; I only used it to pay Chase CCs. Sorry for the long story but I wanted to be as complete as possible. Chase is done with me but I am also done with Chase, at least for a while!

Chase 關全家 2

六張卡被關，短時間內擼了 30,000 的 MS 消費，而且還是沒有額外多倍獎勵的……不得不說老美的腦迴路還是挺令人驚訝。他另外還有一張 0apr 的卡，上面有大量 balance。

Too much MS too quick. Bought 30k in [unbonused spend] across 3 cards. Prompted an acct review because I was maxing out my available credit. I’ve done a ton of MS but I’ve read Covid has them on edge. 6 cards down the drain.

Average spend was always around 15-20k across portfolio in prior months and paying the balance off before statement close. Also was carrying 25k balance on a 0% apr card which was money I invested during April lows. What put my Acct under review was maxing out available balance on one card that had 40k limit. Like immediately after I made that purchase everything got locked up. Even though I wasn’t going to carry that balance it still tipped the scales