Fold is a very interesting crypto debit card and I have written a very extensive review of them here. Fold, in my opinion, is easily the best card for purchasing up to $500 worth of Amazon gift card per month and you can read my article on this matter here.
Fold is one of those cards where people not only did manufactured spend but folks at Fold were well aware of it. I was even told that owner endorsed it. Anyway, recently Fold changed their Terms & Conditions to address Manufactured Spend then on the 11th of September, Fold send the email threatening shutdown.
Hello,
Your Fold account was flagged for spending behavior that violates of our terms and conditions and our banking partners AML obligations. At Fold, we like to let gamers game. But we also have obligations to prevent spending patterns that look like something more nefarious than stacking sats.
Therefore, we have no choice but to terminate your Fold App account and your Fold Card account, effective September 23, 2021. Additionally, effective immediately, your Fold Reward account has been terminated, which means you will be unable to earn any new rewards or withdraw any rewards that you have or may appear to earn.
The good news is that, until that time, you may add funds to or withdraw funds from your Fold Card account. You may also spend your current balance. Additionally, after September 23, once your Fold App account is closed and after you have withdrawn or spent all of the funds from the Fold Card account, we will refund you any amounts which you paid to us for an activation fee (for Spin Tier) or annual fee (for the Spin+ Tier).
If you need assistance withdrawing funds from your Fold Card account, please see this guide: https://support.foldapp.com/hc/en-us/articles/360056679332-How-do-I-move-funds-from-the-Fold-Card-to…
If you have any questions about withdrawing funds from your account, please reply to this email and we will help you with the process.
– Fold
Note: You are receiving this email because you are a Fold Cardholder. Because this is a transaction email notifying you of a service to which you are subscribed, you may not be able to unsubscribe. Please email our support (support@foldapp.com) if you have any questions on your Fold Card subscription.
Few days later, on September 14th, another email was sent out another email reversing the shutdown decision. Again, I was told this might have happened because users were threatening legal action (which might or might not have been validated by how staff reacted to MS activities in the past).
Hello,
The review of your Fold account has been completed.
The hold on withdrawing your sats rewards has been lifted as of Monday, September 13th; you are free to initiate a rewards withdrawal immediately.
We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience that you may have experienced during our review process.
Context
Your account was flagged because the activity was similar to the behavior that our banking partners deem abusive. After review, we have cleared and removed the ban on your account. You are now able to initiate the withdrawal of your rewards.
Account Reviews
Certain types of account behavior may lead to account reviews. Those behaviors include but are not limited to:
Fold Card account activity consisting of large payments to credit card, prepaid card, or similar monetary instruments Fold Card account activity with only one merchant consistently
Fold Card account activity which may otherwise deviate from traditional spending patterns.
Account Bans and Reward Reversals
There are some behaviors that will result in a hold on your account, a revocation of your rewards, and/or ban. Those behaviors include but are not limited to:
Self-pay
Manufactured spending
Other behaviors that violate our terms and conditions or create an unacceptable level of risk for Fold or our banking partners.
For more information on user conduct, feel free to review our Terms and Conditions.
Thank you for sticking with us as we do everything we can to ensure Fold stays profitable and allow our users to enjoy stacking sats.
Oh, and by the way – 5 extra spins should hit your account by the end of the day.
Best,
Fold Risk
Note: You are receiving this email because you are a Fold Cardholder. Because this is a transactional email notifying you of a service to which you are subscribed, you may not be able to unsubscribe. Please email our support (support@foldapp.com) if you have any questions on your Fold Card subscription.
Closing Thoughts
Does this remind anyone of Pei? Start ups think MS is cool until they get hit with reality.
But that’s the beauty of startup folks. Nobody knows what they are doing so huge MS plays can go on longer than usual. Or maybe they do and they’re more inclined to let it happen in return for continued business, ability to show huge numbers to potential investors and partners, etc etc.
This behavior might run deeper in crypto, especially ones where companies are giving you their native tokens as a form of cashback. If I print a billion tokens, do I even care if someone is bringing me business and getting 2, 3, or even 6% cashback in the form of coins I printed out of thin air? Maybe not, well, until my bank’s risk management team comes knocking.
Morale here is that early birds get the word. Late birds have to deal with long list of cashback ineligible transactions like that of CDC.
