Today there was another wave of shutdowns on Amex’s prepaid cards Serve and Bluebird, according to this Reddit thread.
For those keeping track, this is shutdown wave #5 by my count, the last one being in August 2016 (although I might be missing one).
For newer members to the hobby, Serve and Bluebird cards were an easy way to liquidate Visa/MC gift cards by using them to load these prepaid cards at Walmart. Sadly, one year ago, Amex began shutting down the accounts of those who used these cards to manufacture spend. The second wave of shutdowns came in March, the third in May, and the fourth in August.Â
The moral of the story is that it wasn’t a one-time purge; rather, Amex intends to continue shutting down these prepaid cards for ‘abuse’. Time to move on.
Once banned, you can not get the an Amex prepaid card again. Some people like getting the card under a different SSN (e.g. a spouse) and using it for a few months for old time’s sake.
It’s still possible to load other prepaid cards or buy money orders with Visa/MC gift cards, but it’s not always easy to find a vendor or a card which allows it.
