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 15, 2013 | 8:30 am
#1846
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 14
I would think it's easier for them to track by numbers then by name. The same credit card numbers will most likely throw the flag first. Not that I have any knowledge about this at all but just pulling in my knowledge of databases and possible pattern matching and ID retrieval. Names are usually not a reliable source for identification matching.
Mar 15, 2013 | 10:29 am
#1847
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 221
I work closely with electronic payments. The name is embedded in the mag strip and is read by credit card terminals. In the case of online payments, retailers have the option of using the name as a fraud check, but some don't as it's a user entered field which can create false positives (due to typos, initials, etc). Wouldn't risk it...
Mar 15, 2013 | 11:13 am
#1848
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 502
I work closely with electronic payments. The name is embedded in the mag strip and is read by credit card terminals. In the case of online payments, retailers have the option of using the name as a fraud check, but some don't as it's a user entered field which can create false positives (due to typos, initials, etc). Wouldn't risk it...
Some retailers would keep it either in-house for fraud purposes as was mentioned above or send it off to a third-party fraud aggregator, but most of the time your name isn't part of the request that makes it to your bank.
Don't do this.
Mar 15, 2013 | 12:52 pm
#1850
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Land of the parrots and parrotheads
Programs: Several dozen
Posts: 4,820
You ever attend SWATCHA?
I work closely with electronic payments. The name is embedded in the mag strip and is read by credit card terminals. In the case of online payments, retailers have the option of using the name as a fraud check, but some don't as it's a user entered field which can create false positives (due to typos, initials, etc). Wouldn't risk it...
Mar 15, 2013 | 1:14 pm
#1851
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 1,689
So, ADK, with that in mind, what are your thoughts about the OP's original question? Curious what you are thinking.
What is this?
Mar 15, 2013 | 2:14 pm
#1852
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: LAX
Posts: 670
Hey guys, this is my first post.
I've been reading a lot the last few days, but i've never seen mention of AP used in this way. I have a friend that i added as an authorized user for my CSP I'm wondering if they can do AP->my AP with my authorized card without amazon or chase knowing that i'm basically sending to myself. Any thoughts on using this to meet min spend on new cards?(just always adding authorized user and doing this) This is the tightest circle and least amount of hassle i can think of, as i don't have much time to run around looking for VRs to meet min spend.
Looking forward to some input.
I've been reading a lot the last few days, but i've never seen mention of AP used in this way. I have a friend that i added as an authorized user for my CSP I'm wondering if they can do AP->my AP with my authorized card without amazon or chase knowing that i'm basically sending to myself. Any thoughts on using this to meet min spend on new cards?(just always adding authorized user and doing this) This is the tightest circle and least amount of hassle i can think of, as i don't have much time to run around looking for VRs to meet min spend.
Looking forward to some input.
For future reference, this kind of question should go in the existing AP thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manuf...-payments.html
Mar 15, 2013 | 2:36 pm
#1853
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Intermountain West
Programs: Too many to list
Posts: 12,745
I've know someone who has been doing this for months using an AU on a CSP. No problems. That being said, Amazon is almost certainly capable of figuring it out if they wanted to.
For future reference, this kind of question should go in the existing AP thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manuf...-payments.html
For future reference, this kind of question should go in the existing AP thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manuf...-payments.html
Mar 15, 2013 | 2:46 pm
#1854
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Land of the parrots and parrotheads
Programs: Several dozen
Posts: 4,820
I'm thinking it would be a nice day in the Jungle if those were Citi cards....BTW, that group is an electronic payments resource for financial institutions, businesses, and payments industry stakeholders. The FBI often presents to this conclave of cardinals. Dunno how I would know that.
Last edited by AlohaDaveKennedy; Mar 16, 2013 at 9:48 pm
Mar 15, 2013 | 2:50 pm
#1855
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Land of the parrots and parrotheads
Programs: Several dozen
Posts: 4,820
Mar 18, 2013 | 11:25 am
#1857
Join Date: Sep 2012
Programs: UA AA DL SW Marriott
Posts: 251
Glad to have found this thread 
Signed up AP account A - spouse, and B - me, emails, SS#, bank accounts are all different. Successfully done A > B for Feburary. Realizing that Now I need to meet spending requirement. Can I do B > A this month (March), and going forward? Anyone has succesfully revert the direction of AP account $ flow?
Appreciated...
Signed up AP account A - spouse, and B - me, emails, SS#, bank accounts are all different. Successfully done A > B for Feburary. Realizing that Now I need to meet spending requirement. Can I do B > A this month (March), and going forward? Anyone has succesfully revert the direction of AP account $ flow?
Appreciated...
Mar 18, 2013 | 11:29 am
#1858
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 5
Does an AP ban span all of Amazon or is it confined to AP? In other words, if I am banned from AP can I still buy stuff from Amazon?
If so, does it matter if I use a different email address for AP from Amazon.com?
Looking for some confirmation...thanks in advance
If so, does it matter if I use a different email address for AP from Amazon.com?
Looking for some confirmation...thanks in advance
Mar 18, 2013 | 11:51 am
#1859
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 1,689
So, banning from one doesn't seem to affect the other. I don't recall any reports ever being reported of such happening.
However, ymmv for various AP accounts (meaning 1 AP account may or may not affect another).
Different emails should be fine (from my understanding).
BTW, welcome to FT.
Mar 18, 2013 | 12:58 pm
#1860
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 5
AP (payments) vs. Amazon seems to work independently in this aspect.
So, banning from one doesn't seem to affect the other. I don't recall any reports ever being reported of such happening.
However, ymmv for various AP accounts (meaning 1 AP account may or may not affect another).
Different emails should be fine (from my understanding).
BTW, welcome to FT.
So, banning from one doesn't seem to affect the other. I don't recall any reports ever being reported of such happening.
However, ymmv for various AP accounts (meaning 1 AP account may or may not affect another).
Different emails should be fine (from my understanding).
BTW, welcome to FT.