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
Sep 17, 2013, 12:37 pm
#2491
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 756
Isn't both send and receive max out at $1000/mt/acct. So technically, if you have multiple Amz accts and you send and receive no more than $1000 to each separate acct it should be fine or am I missing something?
Sep 17, 2013, 12:47 pm
#2493
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Around The World
Programs: ALL :)
Posts: 384
Sep 17, 2013, 12:56 pm
#2494
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 829
I wasn't sure about $1K/mo receiving limit, that's why I asked.
The idea was to open a couple of extra accounts to speed up CGC liquidation.
Not going to work.
Business accounts can receive up to $10k/mo though.
Sep 17, 2013, 1:22 pm
#2496
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: NY
Posts: 233
Good luck. People get shutdown quickly for that. Not to mention, unless you have a 4%+ card on everyday purchases (IE: paypal), you'd be losing money each transaction. With VR or VS/MC GCs, at least the fee is typically 1% or lower.
Sep 17, 2013, 1:45 pm
#2497
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 756
Sep 17, 2013, 1:46 pm
#2498
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 756
Sep 17, 2013, 3:54 pm
#2499
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 322
Creating multiple accounts, and in some instances paying yourself between your own accounts works sometimes. You're very likely to get your accounts disabled if you do this. Some have reported funds being held for months after having their accounts locked.
Sep 17, 2013, 5:59 pm
#2500
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Raiegh, NC
Posts: 300
Good luck. People get shutdown quickly for that. Not to mention, unless you have a 4%+ card on everyday purchases (IE: paypal), you'd be losing money each transaction. With VR or VS/MC GCs, at least the fee is typically 1% or lower.
Sep 17, 2013, 6:03 pm
#2501
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 829
Sep 17, 2013, 6:27 pm
#2502
Join Date: Nov 2006
Programs: Marriott Platinum, Hilton Diamond, IHG Platinum
Posts: 3,693
Has anyone recently had their transaction show up as Cash Advance even though you selected Goods/Services? This happened to my partner. He is sure that he selected Goods/Services, but a few days later we noticed a $50 fee from Citi. Then we went back to the AP transaction history and gawlee, it says Cash Advance. It's possible my other half in fact mis-selected Cash Advance by accident, but I'm just wondering if it happened to anyone else.
Sep 17, 2013, 7:38 pm
#2503
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: NY
Posts: 233
Has anyone recently had their transaction show up as Cash Advance even though you selected Goods/Services? This happened to my partner. He is sure that he selected Goods/Services, but a few days later we noticed a $50 fee from Citi. Then we went back to the AP transaction history and gawlee, it says Cash Advance. It's possible my other half in fact mis-selected Cash Advance by accident, but I'm just wondering if it happened to anyone else.
