Nov 10, 13, 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 19, 13, 8:20 am
#1501
Join Date: Feb 2011
Programs: DL DM Hub Captive, Marriott Plat, Hilton Diamond, PC Plat, and other stuff.
Posts: 904
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, 13 at 8:32 am
Jan 19, 13, 11:41 am
#1502
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 162
yea, but there is no difference in AP's point of view whether you send it to BB or your bank account. The problem is that BB could at any moment decide to hold your funds and with the increased load activity just simply ban you for suspicious behavior. depositing $10k a month would mean you make $100K+ a year, why would a person making that much money use BB? That is what BB will think, and they will ban you for suspicious activity...
But the whole point is that you are just wasting time, you OBVIOUSLY want this money in a checking account, dont you? So like I said, AP will not see any difference if you send it to BB or a real bank account, thus you are better off just sending it to a bank account...
But the whole point is that you are just wasting time, you OBVIOUSLY want this money in a checking account, dont you? So like I said, AP will not see any difference if you send it to BB or a real bank account, thus you are better off just sending it to a bank account...
Jan 19, 13, 1:22 pm
#1503
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Brooklyn
Programs: AMEX Plat, AAdvantage Gold, UA, SPG Gold, HHonors Gold
Posts: 963
Whoremail.
Quick question- I sent through a payment from mrs bm to myself earlier and made a typo to @hormail.com.
Wondering how I can reverse the payment? I saw a note saying that the user is unknown and must join within 30 days... Anyone made a typo like this and reversed the payment?
Quick question- I sent through a payment from mrs bm to myself earlier and made a typo to @hormail.com.
Wondering how I can reverse the payment? I saw a note saying that the user is unknown and must join within 30 days... Anyone made a typo like this and reversed the payment?
Jan 19, 13, 1:52 pm
#1505
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 698
Whoremail.
Quick question- I sent through a payment from mrs bm to myself earlier and made a typo to @hormail.com.
Wondering how I can reverse the payment? I saw a note saying that the user is unknown and must join within 30 days... Anyone made a typo like this and reversed the payment?
Quick question- I sent through a payment from mrs bm to myself earlier and made a typo to @hormail.com.
Wondering how I can reverse the payment? I saw a note saying that the user is unknown and must join within 30 days... Anyone made a typo like this and reversed the payment?
Jan 19, 13, 3:28 pm
#1506
Join Date: Feb 2011
Programs: DL DM Hub Captive, Marriott Plat, Hilton Diamond, PC Plat, and other stuff.
Posts: 904
yea, but there is no difference in AP's point of view whether you send it to BB or your bank account. The problem is that BB could at any moment decide to hold your funds and with the increased load activity just simply ban you for suspicious behavior. depositing $10k a month would mean you make $100K+ a year, why would a person making that much money use BB? That is what BB will think, and they will ban you for suspicious activity...
But the whole point is that you are just wasting time, you OBVIOUSLY want this money in a checking account, dont you? So like I said, AP will not see any difference if you send it to BB or a real bank account, thus you are better off just sending it to a bank account...
But the whole point is that you are just wasting time, you OBVIOUSLY want this money in a checking account, dont you? So like I said, AP will not see any difference if you send it to BB or a real bank account, thus you are better off just sending it to a bank account...
The point is, everyone needs to understand that there's risk in this game, primarily in the form of getting suspended and having your funds held up. I had to wait over 6 months once to get funds released. So, I only put "points hobby" cash flow money into these games, money that I'll be using to pay day to day bills, etc. Money that I'm NOT willing to risk, or where I'm trying to earn a return - tuition, investments, pension, etc. - doesn't get anywhere near AP or BB or my other games.
Jan 19, 13, 6:18 pm
#1507
Join Date: Sep 2005
Programs: Northwest, United
Posts: 3,172
Jan 19, 13, 7:16 pm
#1508
Join Date: Mar 2011
Programs: AA Plt, BA, SPG Plt
Posts: 231
Jan 20, 13, 2:15 pm
#1510
Join Date: Sep 2005
Programs: Northwest, United
Posts: 3,172
My wife has been sending just under $1000 every month via AP for a while now. If the T&C really say $500 max (are you sure you're looking at the right T&C?), they have not been enforcing that.
Jan 20, 13, 2:42 pm
#1512
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Land of the parrots and parrotheads
Programs: Several dozen
Posts: 4,819
Indeed. Seems AP is in its twilight days.
I've had a couple accounts get shut down recently. My experience with AP echoes what several others around here have been warning: just because AP has been lenient in the past, the fraud detection software/triggers/thesholds at AP have recently been getting a lot more sensitive, especially when it comes to opening new accounts.
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.
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 20, 13, 5:14 pm
#1513
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Brooklyn
Programs: AMEX Plat, AAdvantage Gold, UA, SPG Gold, HHonors Gold
Posts: 963
Yep, perfect thanks.. Reset and resent to my non hooking account.
Jan 20, 13, 5:14 pm
#1514
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Brooklyn
Programs: AMEX Plat, AAdvantage Gold, UA, SPG Gold, HHonors Gold
Posts: 963
