Nov 10, 2013, 11:26 am
Last edit by: mcdullhk88
Dead as of 10/13/14
FAQ's
Is Amazon Payments treated as a cash advance? No CC issuer has been reported as treating an AP transaction as a cash advance unless the sender selected "Payment is for Cash Advance" on the Send Money screen.
What does it mean when your payment is "pending"? Your payment will be reviewed. We are unsure whether this review is done by a human or computer. It should take less than 24 hours but is usually within minutes.
How should you describe your payment? "Goods or services" will allow you to charge with a CC and it will not be treated as a cash advance. Note: If you choose cash advance, it may be treated as such by your CC issuer; always choose Goods/Services. There is no reason to put anything in the optional description field - leave it blank.
What is the monthly limit for sending CC payments? $1,000 per calendar month per AP account
What is the monthly limit for receiving CC payments? $1,000 per calendar month per AP account
What if it is not allowing me to send/receive more than $500 or any at all? You probably have not verified your bank and/or added a CC. In order to get the full $1,000 allowance for sending and receiving you must have a bank verified AND a CC added to your account as a payment method.
Does AP qualify for special spending categories? Specifically it qualifies for Discover's (usually 4th quarter) category of online purchases but so far, not Chase's "5% CB on Amazon.com purchases." Refer to thread for other options.
Can you get shutdown? Yes.
How do you get shutdown? No one knows. Anecdotes are found throughout the thread. Some suspicious behavior that MIGHT get your AP account(s) shut down is listed below.
Which transaction is most advisable? A -> B -> C -> A (see here)
Are any fees charged during this process? No, not by Amazon Payments. If your transaction is treated as a cash advance by your card issuer--fees are possible. Beware and always double check that goods/services is selected!
Can you liquidate Amazon GC via AP? NO!
Can you liquidate other gift cards via AP? Yes. Note that you cannot liquidate the full value of a GC because amazon places a $1 hold while it verifies the validity of the GC. You can sometimes (not always) avoid the hold by entering an incorrect expiration date for the GC when adding it to your AP account, and after you have added it, go to "Edit my account settings," then to "Add edit or delete my credit cards" and edit the expiration date there.
When does the month end? It appears as if Amazon is on pacific time, so midnight PDT/PST is when the month resets.
It bears repeating that no one knows the methodology amazon uses to police AP transactions, determines which transactions violate its T&Cs, or identifies violators. However, various people in this thread and elsewhere have confirmed that their AP account(s) were shut down for the following reasons:
Additionally, we have updated the terms and conditions of our User Agreement (https://payments.amazon.com/help/Personal-Accounts/User-Agreement-Policies/User-Agreement) that apply to your use of the products and services provided by Amazon Payments. Our updated User Agreement revises certain terms (including, among other things, the elimination of person-to-person payments). Our new User Agreement will become effective on October 13, 2014, which is more than 30 days from when we first posted our updated User Agreement. By continuing to use our services after October 13, 2014, you are agreeing to be bound by the terms and conditions of our new User Agreement.
Is Amazon Payments treated as a cash advance? No CC issuer has been reported as treating an AP transaction as a cash advance unless the sender selected "Payment is for Cash Advance" on the Send Money screen.
What does it mean when your payment is "pending"? Your payment will be reviewed. We are unsure whether this review is done by a human or computer. It should take less than 24 hours but is usually within minutes.
How should you describe your payment? "Goods or services" will allow you to charge with a CC and it will not be treated as a cash advance. Note: If you choose cash advance, it may be treated as such by your CC issuer; always choose Goods/Services. There is no reason to put anything in the optional description field - leave it blank.
What is the monthly limit for sending CC payments? $1,000 per calendar month per AP account
What is the monthly limit for receiving CC payments? $1,000 per calendar month per AP account
What if it is not allowing me to send/receive more than $500 or any at all? You probably have not verified your bank and/or added a CC. In order to get the full $1,000 allowance for sending and receiving you must have a bank verified AND a CC added to your account as a payment method.
Does AP qualify for special spending categories? Specifically it qualifies for Discover's (usually 4th quarter) category of online purchases but so far, not Chase's "5% CB on Amazon.com purchases." Refer to thread for other options.
Can you get shutdown? Yes.
How do you get shutdown? No one knows. Anecdotes are found throughout the thread. Some suspicious behavior that MIGHT get your AP account(s) shut down is listed below.
Which transaction is most advisable? A -> B -> C -> A (see here)
Are any fees charged during this process? No, not by Amazon Payments. If your transaction is treated as a cash advance by your card issuer--fees are possible. Beware and always double check that goods/services is selected!
Can you liquidate Amazon GC via AP? NO!
Can you liquidate other gift cards via AP? Yes. Note that you cannot liquidate the full value of a GC because amazon places a $1 hold while it verifies the validity of the GC. You can sometimes (not always) avoid the hold by entering an incorrect expiration date for the GC when adding it to your AP account, and after you have added it, go to "Edit my account settings," then to "Add edit or delete my credit cards" and edit the expiration date there.
When does the month end? It appears as if Amazon is on pacific time, so midnight PDT/PST is when the month resets.
It bears repeating that no one knows the methodology amazon uses to police AP transactions, determines which transactions violate its T&Cs, or identifies violators. However, various people in this thread and elsewhere have confirmed that their AP account(s) were shut down for the following reasons:
- Associating one credit card number with more than one AP account (Be Careful if authorized user card has the same number as the primary card holder - in some instances the CC numbers are completely different)
- Associating one bank account with more than one AP account
Amazon Payments
Feb 17, 2013, 6:09 pm
#1711
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 1,689
if your account gets flagged for review you will know it.
You will receive a warning that says the transaction could not be completed.......
You will likely receive an email as well. In any case, there is NO warning in advance until you push the money through and it gets caught up on the other side.
If it gets caught up on the first side and the transfer is not allowed, then the money went no where (this is usually not the case).
You need to know the limits and not go over, that's for certain.
Feb 17, 2013, 8:07 pm
#1712
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Fairfield County, CT USA
Programs: AA PLT+2MM / DL DM+1MM / A3 *G / Fairmont LT Plat / Ritz Gold / SPG Gold
Posts: 4,077
Yes that is what triggered it. I do not care about the account at this point, I am just worried silly about the money, although member7777 said that they will give it back to me. For know I emailed them asking if they can allow me access to my money which is in the closed account. Now just anxiously checking my email, awaiting a response.
What happened is I sent money to a friend who made 2 accounts, and after the payment to him posted Amazon sent him an email that his account if frozen. The account still shows the balance I sent but it is not allowing me to get it out. Only that account froze but my money is in it!!! I am going crazy!
Once that account if frozen the system doesn't allow you to withdraw money or do anything for that matter. Wondering what to do now....
Once that account if frozen the system doesn't allow you to withdraw money or do anything for that matter. Wondering what to do now....
If you are truly "worried silly" and "going crazy," perhaps consider gardening or something similar with less risk.
Feb 17, 2013, 8:16 pm
#1714
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Fairfield County, CT USA
Programs: AA PLT+2MM / DL DM+1MM / A3 *G / Fairmont LT Plat / Ritz Gold / SPG Gold
Posts: 4,077
I understand the concern, but between a dozen different issuers and over 100 different accounts, split between different User ID's and passwords even with the same issuer, logging in yourself just isn't that practical on any scale.
And in the couple of instances where I have been the victim of credit card fraud, it was the fact that I check Mint.com on a daily basis and see every single transaction very quickly, means it was caught much earlier than it would by the odd login to separate accounts. Accounts were closed before transaction even went from pending to posted (which for most websites would not even be seen on a cursory glance)
And in the couple of instances where I have been the victim of credit card fraud, it was the fact that I check Mint.com on a daily basis and see every single transaction very quickly, means it was caught much earlier than it would by the odd login to separate accounts. Accounts were closed before transaction even went from pending to posted (which for most websites would not even be seen on a cursory glance)
I keep a master spreadsheet of logins (also password protected...helpful, but not 100% I'm sure) and it is well over 250 line items. So many different rules ... Some require three of four of upper, lower, number and symbol; others don't allow symbol, some aren't case sensitive, some are 8 characters minimum, some are 8 characters maximum. Argh.
There is for sure some risk that things could go wrong, but I equate it to the risk that iPhones not switched "fully off" will cause a plane to crash. There is a theoretical remote possibility of the feared event occurring, but in practice every day millions of us go day after day without any incident.
Feb 18, 2013, 4:31 pm
#1715
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 89
From reading the thread I know everyone says a quick A --> B --> A cycling is not recommended. Can you add a reasonable pause and then reverse? For example, A to B for 2 months, no transactions for 2 months, then B to A for two months? Or does A --> B then preclude B --> A no matter the length of time?
I (A) no longer need AP for min spend while B now needs AP. We have no C. Thanks.
I (A) no longer need AP for min spend while B now needs AP. We have no C. Thanks.
Feb 18, 2013, 5:11 pm
#1716
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: NYC
Programs: Mileage Plus, Aadvantage, Skymiles, Marriott, Priority Club, SPG, Amtrak, Hertz
Posts: 834
From reading the thread I know everyone says a quick A --> B --> A cycling is not recommended. Can you add a reasonable pause and then reverse? For example, A to B for 2 months, no transactions for 2 months, then B to A for two months? Or does A --> B then preclude B --> A no matter the length of time?
I (A) no longer need AP for min spend while B now needs AP. We have no C. Thanks.
I (A) no longer need AP for min spend while B now needs AP. We have no C. Thanks.
Feb 18, 2013, 6:12 pm
#1717
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 7
I have tried sending back and forth between three accounts and so far so good. e.g. A --> B --> C --> A --> C --> B...
Feb 18, 2013, 8:21 pm
#1718
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 217
Feb 18, 2013, 8:24 pm
#1719
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 217
Thanks shoreline!! I sent $1000 to my wife's account, split it into 3 weekly transactions, and then one week later, transferred the money. So far good. Will try again next month.
Thanks once again.
Thanks once again.
if your account gets flagged for review you will know it.
You will receive a warning that says the transaction could not be completed.......
You will likely receive an email as well. In any case, there is NO warning in advance until you push the money through and it gets caught up on the other side.
If it gets caught up on the first side and the transfer is not allowed, then the money went no where (this is usually not the case).
You need to know the limits and not go over, that's for certain.
You will receive a warning that says the transaction could not be completed.......
You will likely receive an email as well. In any case, there is NO warning in advance until you push the money through and it gets caught up on the other side.
If it gets caught up on the first side and the transfer is not allowed, then the money went no where (this is usually not the case).
You need to know the limits and not go over, that's for certain.
Feb 18, 2013, 8:36 pm
#1720
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 467
Is there any chance of raising any flags for using the following in completing my spend requirements:
-Sign me and fiancee up for AP
-Add fiance as the authorized user on one of my cards (card B).
-Send $1000 throughout the month with card A from my account to her amazon account.
-Send $1000 throughout the month with card B from her amazon account to mine.
-Sign me and fiancee up for AP
-Add fiance as the authorized user on one of my cards (card B).
-Send $1000 throughout the month with card A from my account to her amazon account.
-Send $1000 throughout the month with card B from her amazon account to mine.
Feb 18, 2013, 8:48 pm
#1721
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Shanghai
Programs: BAEC (Gold), PC (Plat), HH (Gold), MR (Gold)
Posts: 2,729
Is there any chance of raising any flags for using the following in completing my spend requirements:
-Sign me and fiancee up for AP
-Add fiance as the authorized user on one of my cards (card B).
-Send $1000 throughout the month with card A from my account to her amazon account.
-Send $1000 throughout the month with card B from her amazon account to mine.
-Sign me and fiancee up for AP
-Add fiance as the authorized user on one of my cards (card B).
-Send $1000 throughout the month with card A from my account to her amazon account.
-Send $1000 throughout the month with card B from her amazon account to mine.
Feb 18, 2013, 8:59 pm
#1723
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 467
Feb 19, 2013, 10:27 am
#1724
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: PHX
Programs: AA, SPG, UR
Posts: 329
Got "fanged" :(
Multiple accounts opened to potentially enhance this limit will be closed. Tran showed pending for almost 6 hours and then the dreaded email... Account closed! Oh well... Was good while it lasted...
Feb 19, 2013, 1:06 pm
#1725
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 3,737
The "safe" number has always been three accounts with unique email addresses and unique bank accounts. At one point in time in the very beginning there was an email sent out stating that there could only be three accounts per household. YES, there may be people doing more than this... I don't work for Amazon so I have no idea what they do to flag accounts or if signing up for three accounts in one day will raise red flags. This is anecdotal evidence from someone who has worked this deal from day one.
Splitting up payments, changing credit cards, etc... has done nothing but add time. There is no evidence that it helps prevent you getting flagged. I use the same credit card and max out all three account (that all have the same SS#) each month. Playing it "safe" would be to stick in line with that, anything beyond that... or people trying to get back in the game after being frozen out is YMMV.
Hope this helps anyone out there thinking about doing this or is currently doing it. Don't over complicate things, don't get your brother's dog involved, I spend 5 minutes the 1st of each month on AZ payments, wait a few days.. pay off my credit card. Easy as that.
Feel free to PM me any questions if you have any "basic" questions. I will not be able to tell you how to go beyond 3 accounts. I only know from my own experience. I want to help other members so that they do not make mistakes making this more complicated than it should be. I also am a strong believer that you should not pull anyone into this deal as it is not necessary from my experience. I've also had no experience having my account frozen or "fanged" so I can't help you there.