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
Aug 30, 2014, 4:20 pm
#4681
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 1,269
changing IP address?
Sorry if these questions are basic, but I'm not tech savy. For those of you who make sure not to use the same IP address, what's the preferred method of doing that? Does incognito mode accomplish that? Would two computers using the same home wifi result in different ip addresses?
Aug 30, 2014, 6:51 pm
#4683
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: 212
Programs: Marriott Titanium, Hilton Gold, UA Silver
Posts: 502
Aug 30, 2014, 7:14 pm
#4684
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 1,269
Thanks to you both.
Aug 31, 2014, 9:08 am
#4685
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 1
Hi- Apologies in advance if these questions have already been answered. Here's my situation: I created an AP account for myself and my wife and linked the same checking account for each one. I also have used the same IP address for all of this activity.
Realizing that I don't want to have the same checking account linked for both AP accounts, I deleted the liked account on my wife's AP account.
We don't have the same last name but do share a mailing/billing address.
My question is: Does Amazon log IP addresses?
For instance, if I link a separate checking account to my wife's AP account, and begin A) sending money from my account to her account using my home IP and B) withdrawing money from her AP account to checking using my work IP .... will Amazon have already logged my home IP on the wife's account and consider this reason for flagging?
Hope this makes sense! Just starting out and trying to set up the most optimal system.
Realizing that I don't want to have the same checking account linked for both AP accounts, I deleted the liked account on my wife's AP account.
We don't have the same last name but do share a mailing/billing address.
My question is: Does Amazon log IP addresses?
For instance, if I link a separate checking account to my wife's AP account, and begin A) sending money from my account to her account using my home IP and B) withdrawing money from her AP account to checking using my work IP .... will Amazon have already logged my home IP on the wife's account and consider this reason for flagging?
Hope this makes sense! Just starting out and trying to set up the most optimal system.
Aug 31, 2014, 9:48 am
#4686
Join Date: May 2014
Location: New York
Posts: 391
Sep 1, 2014, 6:53 am
#4687
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 252
Tried opening a new AP account for my uncle. Got this response from AP:
"We appreciate your use of Amazon Payments. Unfortunately, we have been unable to confirm your account information. This may be because you failed to respond to our past requests for more information or we could not confirm identity information provided by you."
I don't get it, he doesn't has an AP account. He doesn't have a bank account either. Maybe that's why they can't confirm his information? He only has a SS card (alien resident), and that's it. Does anyone knows what service AP uses for identity verification? If it is something like a credit agency, I'm out of luck. My uncle is old school. Maybe if I open a bank account in his name? Probably won't be able to do that either, as I don't like any of my local banks. And will open it online, if I do.
"We appreciate your use of Amazon Payments. Unfortunately, we have been unable to confirm your account information. This may be because you failed to respond to our past requests for more information or we could not confirm identity information provided by you."
I don't get it, he doesn't has an AP account. He doesn't have a bank account either. Maybe that's why they can't confirm his information? He only has a SS card (alien resident), and that's it. Does anyone knows what service AP uses for identity verification? If it is something like a credit agency, I'm out of luck. My uncle is old school. Maybe if I open a bank account in his name? Probably won't be able to do that either, as I don't like any of my local banks. And will open it online, if I do.
Sep 1, 2014, 7:35 am
#4688
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: 212
Programs: Marriott Titanium, Hilton Gold, UA Silver
Posts: 502
Tried opening a new AP account for my uncle. Got this response from AP:
"We appreciate your use of Amazon Payments. Unfortunately, we have been unable to confirm your account information. This may be because you failed to respond to our past requests for more information or we could not confirm identity information provided by you."
I don't get it, he doesn't has an AP account. He doesn't have a bank account either. Maybe that's why they can't confirm his information? He only has a SS card (alien resident), and that's it. Does anyone knows what service AP uses for identity verification? If it is something like a credit agency, I'm out of luck. My uncle is old school. Maybe if I open a bank account in his name? Probably won't be able to do that either, as I don't like any of my local banks. And will open it online, if I do.
"We appreciate your use of Amazon Payments. Unfortunately, we have been unable to confirm your account information. This may be because you failed to respond to our past requests for more information or we could not confirm identity information provided by you."
I don't get it, he doesn't has an AP account. He doesn't have a bank account either. Maybe that's why they can't confirm his information? He only has a SS card (alien resident), and that's it. Does anyone knows what service AP uses for identity verification? If it is something like a credit agency, I'm out of luck. My uncle is old school. Maybe if I open a bank account in his name? Probably won't be able to do that either, as I don't like any of my local banks. And will open it online, if I do.
That being said, I think you also need to submit some driver's license or some ID for Amazon as well.
Sep 1, 2014, 9:08 am
#4689
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 3,688
if your uncle will link Serve with AP, just make sure not to use the Centurion Bank showing in your Serve account on AP to pull money that he received on amazon. Centurion Bank routing and account number is strictly for DD purposes, which I learned the hard way. I'm just glad I didn't pay dearly for that mistake.
Sep 1, 2014, 9:25 am
#4690
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: 212
Programs: Marriott Titanium, Hilton Gold, UA Silver
Posts: 502
if your uncle will link Serve with AP, just make sure not to use the Centurion Bank showing in your Serve account on AP to pull money that he received on amazon. Centurion Bank routing and account number is strictly for DD purposes, which I learned the hard way. I'm just glad I didn't pay dearly for that mistake.
Sep 1, 2014, 9:41 am
#4691
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: SFO
Programs: Hyatt: Diamond, HHonors: Diamond, SPG: Gold
Posts: 193
Same bank account, what now?
I was setting up the in-laws and completely blanked, adding one of the same bank accounts to their AP accounts (the other is serve).
One of my in-laws was able to send a payment just fine, but now the other's just keeps coming back as failed. I realized my error too late and removed the duplicate account. This was in the middle of an A-B-C-D-E-A chain.
Has anyone done this before? I'm hesitant to try the failed account again for a few months, but am not sure what good it'll do. Neither account has received an account closure message.
One of my in-laws was able to send a payment just fine, but now the other's just keeps coming back as failed. I realized my error too late and removed the duplicate account. This was in the middle of an A-B-C-D-E-A chain.
Has anyone done this before? I'm hesitant to try the failed account again for a few months, but am not sure what good it'll do. Neither account has received an account closure message.
Sep 1, 2014, 1:55 pm
#4692
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Sacramento, CA
Posts: 372
if your uncle will link Serve with AP, just make sure not to use the Centurion Bank showing in your Serve account on AP to pull money that he received on amazon. Centurion Bank routing and account number is strictly for DD purposes, which I learned the hard way. I'm just glad I didn't pay dearly for that mistake.
Sep 1, 2014, 4:09 pm
#4693
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 252
Interestingly enough, Amex Serve is a product especially for people like your uncle. All he needs is his Social Security and you can use their Routing # as the "bank" for Amazon's purposes.
That being said, I think you also need to submit some driver's license or some ID for Amazon as well.
That being said, I think you also need to submit some driver's license or some ID for Amazon as well.
Sep 1, 2014, 7:09 pm
#4694
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: 212
Programs: Marriott Titanium, Hilton Gold, UA Silver
Posts: 502
I was able to open a Serve account for him. Still haven't got the card, but I got the Welcome to Serve email after sending more documents. But AP didn't ask any documentation, they just asked for the Name, Address, SS, etc, TWICE. I was surprised I had to fill the form again after login in. And then, hours later, came the email saying they couldn't verify my uncle. Is Amazon being more strict recently to open new accounts? I didn't have any issues back in the day.
Sep 1, 2014, 8:26 pm
#4695
Join Date: May 2014
Location: New York
Posts: 391