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
Jan 18, 2013 | 2:27 am
#1487
Join Date: Feb 2011
Programs: DL DM Hub Captive, Marriott Plat, Hilton Diamond, PC Plat, and other stuff.
Posts: 905
If you look at the very early posts of this thread, you'll see one that says "may this thread die into obscurity". No such luck. My great fear is that, like Office Depot, and like the Mint before it, AP will suffer a big enough onslaught of newbies with Gold Rush mentality that they will have no choice but to shut it down.
Jan 18, 2013 | 7:42 am
#1489
Formerly known as cagalindo
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: MCO TPA
Programs: Citi AA/HH/TYP Amex SPG/HH & Chase SP/PC
Posts: 1,335
They have been eating up the losses for a long time now... trying to beat Paypal or whatever their goal is.
I think we'll be seeing fees sometime this year. Bloggers, posters, anyone that uses AP... we're all "killing" it. Some way more than others.
I think we'll be seeing fees sometime this year. Bloggers, posters, anyone that uses AP... we're all "killing" it. Some way more than others.
Last edited by caGALINDO; Jan 18, 2013 at 7:49 am
Jan 18, 2013 | 9:33 am
#1490
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Chicago
Programs: AA, BA, CX, DL, EK, F9, GA, HA, IB, JL, KE, LH, MH, NH, OS, PG, QR, RJ, SA, TG, UA, VN, WN, ZH
Posts: 927
Jan 18, 2013 | 9:53 am
#1491
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 1,689
from all the post, you coul've fooled me.
You have posted on at least 4-6 threads the same question.
The answer remains diversify and move slow.
One person going in and clearing out every place in there area and continuing to search for more is the reason why people are leery about sharing information here on FT.
This mentality is the newbie mentality of "ALL IN" and "GRAB IT WHILE IT'S THERE" and no need to worry about consequences .............it kills deals.
So, the answer remains Diversify.
Wow, I wasn't sure if it was a glitch or not. I'm glad I got in while I could. I'm in for $6000, all on Ink cards :-) I got them from 2 different OM stores. Any suggestions on how to liquidate these, aside from AP?
The Staples promo was a little more work, but I ended up selling the Staples GCs on like Plastic Jungle or one of those sites. I went $13k in on that one.
Definitely want to say THANK YOU to the OP for pointing this one out. I find SD's site to be so chaotic and difficult to find the treasures buried in pages of blender, TV, cell phone sales.
The Staples promo was a little more work, but I ended up selling the Staples GCs on like Plastic Jungle or one of those sites. I went $13k in on that one.
Definitely want to say THANK YOU to the OP for pointing this one out. I find SD's site to be so chaotic and difficult to find the treasures buried in pages of blender, TV, cell phone sales.
Good luck on the No Red Flags.
I hardly see why you would be worried about the Fangs of AP, it doesn't appear you are tooooo worried about the wrath of the CC companies.
If your spending pattern is many thousands on your INK business card, then you may not be pushing it, however, if this is your spending pattern.........Good Luck.
and,
The answer remains Diversify and liquidate slowly.^
Last edited by shoreline; Jan 18, 2013 at 9:58 am
Jan 18, 2013 | 10:05 am
#1492
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: CVG
Programs: AAdvantage, Delta Skymiles, CapOne Venture, Citi ThankYou
Posts: 486
If you're just returning money I do A > B, B > bank and then an ACH pull back to me. The person you're sending money to will have to be comfortable with you pulling from their account but my thought is the ACH pull back takes it off APs radar.
Jan 18, 2013 | 11:43 am
#1493
Join Date: Feb 2011
Programs: DL DM Hub Captive, Marriott Plat, Hilton Diamond, PC Plat, and other stuff.
Posts: 905
Why the B > A? Is it convenience? The objective is to get ~ $1k on the credit card, right? Are you saying the B > A portion is new money? A second $1K.
If you're just returning money I do A > B, B > bank and then an ACH pull back to me. The person you're sending money to will have to be comfortable with you pulling from their account but my thought is the ACH pull back takes it off APs radar.
If you're just returning money I do A > B, B > bank and then an ACH pull back to me. The person you're sending money to will have to be comfortable with you pulling from their account but my thought is the ACH pull back takes it off APs radar.
Jan 18, 2013 | 2:57 pm
#1494
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 162
i was trying to find the debit gift cards in CVS or Duane Reade, but I didn't see any DEBIT cards. Are there certain Gift cards that you get a pin/or choose one and then are able to do debit transactions? I'm not talking about WF or MVD. just one of those regular gift cards that allow you to use as debit and dont have to load with VR or anything, you load when you but it...... A PM would be cool if you want to keep it dl...
Jan 18, 2013 | 4:14 pm
#1496
Join Date: Feb 2011
Programs: DL DM Hub Captive, Marriott Plat, Hilton Diamond, PC Plat, and other stuff.
Posts: 905
Jan 19, 2013 | 8:20 am
#1500
Join Date: Feb 2011
Programs: DL DM Hub Captive, Marriott Plat, Hilton Diamond, PC Plat, and other stuff.
Posts: 905
To get technical, there is also a $10K total balance limit on your BB account, so if you maxed out VR's AND direct deposits in a month, you'd hit that $10K ceiling, and if you didn't lower that total balance by paying some bills or transferring money, then the following month you wouldn't be able to add any more money to your BB account. But I don't think anyone reading this thread would allow that to happen.
Last edited by thegasguru; Jan 19, 2013 at 8:32 am