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 30, 2013, 4:30 pm
#1906
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Anaheim Hills, CA
Programs: UA 1K, 1.3mm
Posts: 918
Mar 31, 2013, 2:36 pm
#1909
Join Date: May 2002
Location: District of Columbia, Maryland- AA 2M Life Platinum, UA 1K, TK Gold, BA Silver, IC RA, Fairmont/Marriott Platinum, SPG/Hilton/Omni Gold, Wynn/Makers Mark Ambassador, Hertz Presidents Circle, Avis Chairmans, National Executive
Posts: 1,578
Pardon the ignorance as new to churning, but isn't AP really just Paypal? I don't recall adding bank accounts to my account but noticed they are the sames as as Paypal.
Would I be able to add Paypal Cash to AP? How about loading via VR? Otherwise, what is the point of adding cash to use cash!?
Would I be able to add Paypal Cash to AP? How about loading via VR? Otherwise, what is the point of adding cash to use cash!?
Mar 31, 2013, 3:00 pm
#1910
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 1,689
Pardon the ignorance as new to churning, but isn't AP really just Paypal? I don't recall adding bank accounts to my account but noticed they are the sames as as Paypal.
Would I be able to add Paypal Cash to AP? How about loading via VR? Otherwise, what is the point of adding cash to use cash!?
Would I be able to add Paypal Cash to AP? How about loading via VR? Otherwise, what is the point of adding cash to use cash!?
No, they are not the same thing. Have you gone to the two sites and read to see the difference (or read the threads)?
Plenty of info. on how these work, but reading their perspective websites for T&C and reading through the threads of each would/should be the beginning and help lots with your learning process on these 2 venues.
This should be done before asking basically what it is or how to use it (I see you are not new to FT, but new to churning, so reading will be your friend for a bit).
After you have read, there are many here who will be more willing to help with questions (but educating yourself a bit is important).
Mar 31, 2013, 8:12 pm
#1912
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 3,737
If Amazon was "actively trying to trap money" by freezing accounts... I'm under the impression there would be a significant amount of posts on here about this.
Apr 1, 2013, 3:57 pm
#1913
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Land of the parrots and parrotheads
Programs: Several dozen
Posts: 4,820
You forgot about PM's Astro.
Responded via PM. Alot of traffic is going PM...
Responded via PM. Alot of traffic is going PM...
Apr 1, 2013, 4:11 pm
#1914
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Down South, The Desert
Programs: Marriot Rewards, Southwest Rapid rewards, Emerald Club, Avis Preferred
Posts: 1,871
I'm about to sign up for this. I'm not going to do it often, or for a lot of money. I won't use cards from Town. I hope someone PMs me with a warning if I should not even bother.
Apr 1, 2013, 6:01 pm
#1915
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: ONT/LAX
Programs: IHG Plat
Posts: 496
Apr 2, 2013, 10:16 pm
#1918
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Land of the parrots and parrotheads
Programs: Several dozen
Posts: 4,820
Apr 2, 2013, 11:51 pm
#1919
Join Date: Oct 2007
Programs: Marriott, Radisson, AA, UA
Posts: 360
Amazon wants to show that they also has one of their own.
But in order to compete, Amazon will have to eat the fees for now. If they don't, active users will stop using them and closing their accounts. I am sure they realized that too. Amazon market cap is over $119 billion as of today, these fees are so tiny, not even a drop in the bucket. But what if they spin off Amazon Payments or sell it? Don't you think they could claim how valuable it is since they have more active users?
Apr 3, 2013, 5:24 am
#1920
Join Date: May 2008
Location: PHL (kinda, no airport is really close)
Programs: AA Exp, but not sure for how long. Enterprise Platinum woo-hoo!
Posts: 4,550
Amazon's general business strategy is to invest in products and services that will give them a firm hold in certain markets. The big one has been the distribution centers, where they are trying to locate them close enough so that everyone can get their merchandise very quickly. The same with Amazon Prime, the 2-day unlimited delivery service for $79 a year. Both of these are very costly, but designed to increase market share. AP is probably the same. They have a long climb to get to EBay's level but they are willing to make the investment. Just my personal opinion, but sure, I doubt the $1000-a-month gravy train will last forever, but I don't think they are going to have an "OMG" moment and say "These FTers are eating us out of house and home, we gotta shut 'em down."
You would think that all the companies we exploit would have some bright pimply-faced summer intern and hand him or her a database of people using their services and say "Find us the ones who aren't making us money and help us get rid of them." But real companies don't work that way. They find a million reasons not to. IF they want to do that, they engage companies like the last one I used to work for (a multi-billion dollar vendor of Business Intelligence software) and buy software from them that's typically in 8 figures. One of the reasons is that the pimply-faced kid isn't going to cancel accounts, and the senior executive who will actually put together the proposal isn't going to risk their career and the market share they are proposing to shed on the analysis of some pimply-faced kid.
You would think that all the companies we exploit would have some bright pimply-faced summer intern and hand him or her a database of people using their services and say "Find us the ones who aren't making us money and help us get rid of them." But real companies don't work that way. They find a million reasons not to. IF they want to do that, they engage companies like the last one I used to work for (a multi-billion dollar vendor of Business Intelligence software) and buy software from them that's typically in 8 figures. One of the reasons is that the pimply-faced kid isn't going to cancel accounts, and the senior executive who will actually put together the proposal isn't going to risk their career and the market share they are proposing to shed on the analysis of some pimply-faced kid.