Risk and reward

You find your limit when you fail.

Back in the early days of my churning adventure, I kept hearing how valuable Chase Ultimate Rewards were — especially for their transfer to Hyatt. At the time, I was still earning sign-up bonuses through organic spend, but I didn’t want to keep ramping that up. So I started exploring other options — some common, some… less so — and that’s when I found buying groups.

Buying groups are pretty straightforward. Overseas, products like iPhones, laptops, and gaming consoles cost more than in the U.S. These groups connect international buyers with U.S. shoppers who can buy and ship items to their warehouses. In return, they reimburse you at or near cost once they receive the goods.

For churners, it’s a dream setup — you can generate massive spend and earn a ton of points while keeping real costs low. But, as with anything in this hobby, there’s a catch: you’re floating thousands of dollars in inventory and trusting a “reputable” stranger to pay you back. With risk comes reward.

From what I’d read online, Chase didn’t love seeing direct deposits from buying groups. Easy fix, right? Just use another bank to pay off the business cards I used for these purchases. I’d already destroyed my Chex/EWS reports long before I even knew what they were, so I grabbed one of the random credit unions I’d opened for a bank bonus — no fees, no problem.

Big mistake.

This particular bank had the strangest online setup imaginable — no account number shown anywhere in the dashboard. You had to call in to get it. Even worse, they had something called a “membership number” that looked like an account number but wasn’t. To top it off, it started with two zeros. Meanwhile, Chase’s Plaid integration wasn’t working, so I had to enter everything manually.

At that point, I should’ve stopped, opened a new account, and played it safe. But I had payments due soon and wanted to stay off Chase’s radar. So I paid off all three business cards from that account at once.

A few days later, I got a call from Chase’s fraud department — payment failed, account info invalid. Then came a letter saying my account had been flagged for fraudulent activity. A week later, every Chase credit card I had — business and personal — was closed. No appeal, no reopening.

Later, I learned I might’ve saved myself if I’d called the “better” customer service line. But by then, the ship had sailed. I was overconfident and underestimated Chase’s systems. My checking account stayed open (I eventually closed it out of frustration), which I hear might be a good sign if I ever want to dip my toes back in.

You find your limit when you fail. Mine was moving too fast and burning my bridge to millions of future points with Chase. Luckily, my P2 still has a great relationship with them, and we’ve managed to keep the Hyatt game alive and well.

Brandon’s Rec: Be cautious with algorithms at big banks.