A few months ago, there was an offer for the American Express Platinum card with a signup bonus of 100,000 Membership Rewards after meeting a spending bonus. It only lasted a little less than a day (though if you were on the Points With a Crew miles and points Slack channel you got more time than most) before it was killed. I signed myself up, and met my spending target and received my 100,000 Membership Rewards a few weeks ago.
Some people reporting their 100,000 Membership Rewards bonus clawed back
Over on the Slack channel, some folks yesterday started commenting about how some folks Membership Rewards were getting clawed back. There is also coverage about this on Reddit and Doctor of Credit.
According to the terms and conditions of the signup bonus
The following charges do NOT count towards the Threshold Amount: fees or interest charges; balance transfers; cash advances; purchases of travelers checks; purchases or reloading of prepaid cards; or purchases of other cash equivalents.
This is nothing new – it’s always been in there, but apparently Amex is taking the stance that people that met their signup bonus requirements by buying prepaid debit cards have bought “cash equivalents” and therefore are not eligible.
I did check my account and my Membership Rewards are still there (I did not do any MS to meet this particular signup bonus, though I have before on some cards)
(SEE ALSO: How I lost a $400 credit card signup bonus 
)
One really annoying feature is that Amex waited to do this until AFTER the 3 month spending period is over. That means that people whose bonuses were clawed back have no real recourse other than either arguing with Amex or the CFPB.
Did you have your Membership Rewards clawed back? Leave your data points in the comments