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 11, 2013, 4:36 pm
#1816
Used to be garyjr316
Join Date: Feb 2011
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Posts: 800
Or... if your parents both have a checking account you could each send them $1,000 a month and vice versa. You could always add your parents as card holders onto your credit cards and that way you could be doing 4K a month between the 4 of you but all of it would be earning you points.
Mar 11, 2013, 4:42 pm
#1818
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Austin, Texas
Programs: Airline nobody. Sad!
Posts: 26,062
Mar 11, 2013, 4:46 pm
#1819
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 1,758
Mar 11, 2013, 4:51 pm
#1820
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Austin, Texas
Programs: Airline nobody. Sad!
Posts: 26,062
Are the miles worth the 5% fee? You need to find a card with a better cash advance rate. I'm only paying 3% CA fee on my shiny new Chase Sapphire Preferred (insert affiliate link here)!
Mar 11, 2013, 4:52 pm
#1821
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 1,689
some (like Chase) show up original as a CA then change to a purchase some number of days later.
it all depends on what CC you are using and how you send the payment.
Mar 11, 2013, 5:20 pm
#1824
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
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Programs: Airline nobody. Sad!
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Mar 11, 2013, 5:34 pm
#1825
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 1,758
Mar 11, 2013, 6:22 pm
#1826
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: SNA/LAX
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Mar 11, 2013, 7:44 pm
#1827
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 1,689
No, don't call.
Their system is extremely picky about everything matching and the spaces, periods, etc.
So, make sure everything is as it needs to be. One little thing incorrect will throw your verification out the window until you get it in the system the way it wants it.
Name, address, spelling, etc. must all match on what you are trying to verify (i.e. mailing address, bank account, billing account of CC, etc).
No dashes, and just leave the periods out. (have you done this already)
Mar 11, 2013, 7:51 pm
#1828
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Shanghai
Programs: BAEC (Gold), PC (Plat), HH (Gold), MR (Gold)
Posts: 2,729
Not only did Chase charge me a cash advance fee, but their fraud department called me and threatened to come round to my house and confiscate my first born if I used Amazon Payments again. Next time I'm using Citi, who I'd have learned, had I been bothered to read the thread, love this sort of thing.
Mar 11, 2013, 9:07 pm
#1830
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 28
a new account to new account must wait 5-7 biz days before sending money?
I was about to send money to a friend, he said wait let me register for amazon payments first, he did, then went ahead and entered his bank acct info, and I know that takes 5-7 biz days to verify, but now when I tried to send him money it says cannot send to this recipient, please contact recipient to see why.
I was about to send money to a friend, he said wait let me register for amazon payments first, he did, then went ahead and entered his bank acct info, and I know that takes 5-7 biz days to verify, but now when I tried to send him money it says cannot send to this recipient, please contact recipient to see why.