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
Mar 5, 2013, 10:52 am
#1773
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: NYC
Programs: Mileage Plus, Aadvantage, Skymiles, Marriott, Priority Club, SPG, Amtrak, Hertz
Posts: 834
I'm also curious about this. I'd like to use AP to get my FlexPts balance up to an even 60,000 after I meet the minimum spend on my biz card (I'm done with the min. spend for the Olympic promo).
Mar 5, 2013, 11:24 am
#1775
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Land of the parrots and parrotheads
Programs: Several dozen
Posts: 4,820
Mar 5, 2013, 11:25 am
#1776
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 450
Read the thread and you will get your answer. Your questions have been asked over and over.
Mar 5, 2013, 11:38 am
#1777
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 1,689
no, you cannot use them to load BB directly.
however, be sure to read up on what the AP limits are.
Last edited by shoreline; Mar 5, 2013 at 9:02 pm Reason: correction 'loa' is 'load'
Mar 5, 2013, 2:11 pm
#1778
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Land of the parrots and parrotheads
Programs: Several dozen
Posts: 4,820
Those AP limits, to quote Jack Sparrow, are "more what you'd call 'guidelines' than actual rules." But be warned that Cardinal Fang is conducting Jungle Warfare and the jungle is no country for old men.
Sheriff Ed Tom Bell: Well, Fang would torture em' first. I don't know why... maybe his television set was broke.
Sheriff Ed Tom Bell: Well, Fang would torture em' first. I don't know why... maybe his television set was broke.
Mar 5, 2013, 9:06 pm
#1780
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 1,689
Those AP limits, to quote Jack Sparrow, are "more what you'd call 'guidelines' than actual rules." But be warned that Cardinal Fang is conducting Jungle Warfare and the jungle is no country for old men.
Sheriff Ed Tom Bell: Well, Fang would torture em' first. I don't know why... maybe his television set was broke.
Sheriff Ed Tom Bell: Well, Fang would torture em' first. I don't know why... maybe his television set was broke.
ha~ 'guidelines' only for those like yourself, while T&C more many others.
ADK likes the rugged jungle. Lol.
Beware, be weary or bewildered.~^
Mar 6, 2013, 1:03 pm
#1781
Join Date: Sep 2005
Programs: Northwest, United
Posts: 3,257
FWIW my wife has been sending me nearly $1K/mo via AP for several months now, using a variety of CCs to fund that, including at least one Amex card. No heat from Amex (or anyone else) on this yet.
That said....
1. We only go A>B. A simple, one-way straight path, nothing fancy. Money never goes back to A.
2. She has probably only used an Amex card to fund this once or twice. If it was an ongoing thing, I dunno. At this point I'm actually more worried about the fact that she switches her funding source every month (to whatever card she's working on the minimum spend). I've heard that constantly switching funding sources is a potential red flag for AP (true?).
YMMV.
Mar 6, 2013, 1:13 pm
#1782
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: NYC
Programs: Mileage Plus, Aadvantage, Skymiles, Marriott, Priority Club, SPG, Amtrak, Hertz
Posts: 834
I don't believe this is necessarily true - at least not in and of itself. Maybe combined with other factors?
FWIW my wife has been sending me nearly $1K/mo via AP for several months now, using a variety of CCs to fund that, including at least one Amex card. No heat from Amex (or anyone else) on this yet.
That said....
1. We only go A>B. A simple, one-way straight path, nothing fancy. Money never goes back to A.
2. She has probably only used an Amex card to fund this once or twice. If it was an ongoing thing, I dunno. At this point I'm actually more worried about the fact that she switches her funding source every month (to whatever card she's working on the minimum spend). I've heard that constantly switching funding sources is a potential red flag for AP (true?).
YMMV.
FWIW my wife has been sending me nearly $1K/mo via AP for several months now, using a variety of CCs to fund that, including at least one Amex card. No heat from Amex (or anyone else) on this yet.
That said....
1. We only go A>B. A simple, one-way straight path, nothing fancy. Money never goes back to A.
2. She has probably only used an Amex card to fund this once or twice. If it was an ongoing thing, I dunno. At this point I'm actually more worried about the fact that she switches her funding source every month (to whatever card she's working on the minimum spend). I've heard that constantly switching funding sources is a potential red flag for AP (true?).
YMMV.
I used AP to meet most of the $5K min spend on the 70K Delta Gold offer.
Mar 6, 2013, 2:35 pm
#1783
Join Date: Jul 2011
Programs: BAEC, A*A, SW RR
Posts: 199
I don't believe this is necessarily true - at least not in and of itself. Maybe combined with other factors?
FWIW my wife has been sending me nearly $1K/mo via AP for several months now, using a variety of CCs to fund that, including at least one Amex card. No heat from Amex (or anyone else) on this yet.
That said....
1. We only go A>B. A simple, one-way straight path, nothing fancy. Money never goes back to A.
2. She has probably only used an Amex card to fund this once or twice. If it was an ongoing thing, I dunno. At this point I'm actually more worried about the fact that she switches her funding source every month (to whatever card she's working on the minimum spend). I've heard that constantly switching funding sources is a potential red flag for AP (true?).
YMMV.
FWIW my wife has been sending me nearly $1K/mo via AP for several months now, using a variety of CCs to fund that, including at least one Amex card. No heat from Amex (or anyone else) on this yet.
That said....
1. We only go A>B. A simple, one-way straight path, nothing fancy. Money never goes back to A.
2. She has probably only used an Amex card to fund this once or twice. If it was an ongoing thing, I dunno. At this point I'm actually more worried about the fact that she switches her funding source every month (to whatever card she's working on the minimum spend). I've heard that constantly switching funding sources is a potential red flag for AP (true?).
YMMV.
Mar 7, 2013, 1:55 am
#1784
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: In The Cockpit, Left Seat
Programs: AA, UA, HH, SPG
Posts: 78
Lately I have been running a lot of $500 GC's thru AP so I'm adding and deleting cards on several accounts every month. Everything has gone like clockwork so far
Mar 7, 2013, 7:47 am
#1785
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 17,427
Of course, in the scheme of "manufactured spending" $1000 is chump change. Its practical utility is to get rid of unwanted gift cards and modestly contribute to new card minimum spends. What was more interesting was folks having multiple accounts. From what I read -- and I assume it's accurate -- it's quite problematic these days to use multiple AP accounts.