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
Apr 12, 2013, 8:04 pm
#1951
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: BOS
Programs: Chase Ultimate Rewards
Posts: 624
Not sure how Amex or Citi handle AUs, but Chase AUs share the same card number, exp. date, security code, and billing address as the main cardholder, so I would imagine it is easy for Amazon to figure out which cards are unique in their systems and which are authorized users.
Apr 13, 2013, 9:20 am
#1953
Join Date: Apr 2013
Programs: UA MPE, BA Blue, AA, IHG Plat Amb, Marriot Silver, HHonors Silver, National Exec, Avis First
Posts: 553
Not sure how Amex or Citi handle AUs, but Chase AUs share the same card number, exp. date, security code, and billing address as the main cardholder, so I would imagine it is easy for Amazon to figure out which cards are unique in their systems and which are authorized users.
Apr 13, 2013, 11:03 am
#1954
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: BOS
Programs: Chase Ultimate Rewards
Posts: 624
Apr 14, 2013, 11:04 am
#1955
Join Date: Jan 2010
Programs: AA EXP/LT PLT
Posts: 1,467
I am planing only to do A(mine) ---> B.
I already had an Amazon A/C and activated an Amazon payments.
I didn't register any bank A/C but it looks I can send money with CC.
Do I( as A) need to register my checking A/C?
Also, B registered/got verified only the checking A/C.
Does B need to register CC for just withdrawing money to the checking A/C?
I already had an Amazon A/C and activated an Amazon payments.
I didn't register any bank A/C but it looks I can send money with CC.
Do I( as A) need to register my checking A/C?
Also, B registered/got verified only the checking A/C.
Does B need to register CC for just withdrawing money to the checking A/C?
Apr 14, 2013, 11:10 am
#1956
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 699
I have an AP account, one for my wife, and one that I manage for a friend. There is a mix of credit cards on all three with various names on them, and I have never had an issue.
I did have a card that I couldn't add to an account a couple of months ago, but I don't know what the problem was there. I'm pretty sure it was a card I had used in the past.
I don't think AP can "see" whether someone is an AU or not.
I did have a card that I couldn't add to an account a couple of months ago, but I don't know what the problem was there. I'm pretty sure it was a card I had used in the past.
I don't think AP can "see" whether someone is an AU or not.
Apr 14, 2013, 11:55 am
#1957
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 1,818
out of curiosity do all the names on the credit cards match the names on the accounts? i'm trying to help a family member meet minimum spend and was going to add their card to my account but i'm not an AU. they don't have an AP account so the card hasn't been previously registered to any account. i would likely just add their card with their name on my account - not sure if that would work? thanks!
Apr 14, 2013, 5:44 pm
#1958
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 699
Apr 14, 2013, 11:29 pm
#1959
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 1,818
I am planing only to do A(mine) ---> B.
I already had an Amazon A/C and activated an Amazon payments.
I didn't register any bank A/C but it looks I can send money with CC.
Do I( as A) need to register my checking A/C?
Also, B registered/got verified only the checking A/C.
Does B need to register CC for just withdrawing money to the checking A/C?
I already had an Amazon A/C and activated an Amazon payments.
I didn't register any bank A/C but it looks I can send money with CC.
Do I( as A) need to register my checking A/C?
Also, B registered/got verified only the checking A/C.
Does B need to register CC for just withdrawing money to the checking A/C?
-If you register your checking A/C, the send/receive limit is $1000 for credit card and unlimited for bank transfer. Under the $1000 for credit card transfer, there is no fee for you, nor the recipient. After the $1000, I have no idea, probably some fee.
- I don't know if B needs to register a CC in order to withdraw to bank account or not. B can register a debit card just incase.
Make sure to ONLY send ONE WAY (A --> B), and once they have received it, never have that same person send u any type of money back to your Amazon account, even from a different credit card or their bank account.
Apr 15, 2013, 2:13 am
#1960
Join Date: Oct 2007
Programs: Marriott, Radisson, AA, UA
Posts: 360
Apr 15, 2013, 7:57 am
#1961
Join Date: Apr 2013
Programs: UA MPE, BA Blue, AA, IHG Plat Amb, Marriot Silver, HHonors Silver, National Exec, Avis First
Posts: 553
Apr 15, 2013, 12:55 pm
#1962
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 699
Yes, shopping on amazon.com with different CCs won't raise flags (unless their is a lot of weird transactions going on), but when it comes to PayPal and Amazon Payments, there are tons of sharks swimming around accounts waiting to bite anyone remotely trying to abuse anything. ESPECIALLY since amazon is the only system that does not charge a credit card fee to send and receive.
Make sure to ONLY send ONE WAY (A --> B), and once they have received it, never have that same person send u any type of money back to your Amazon account, even from a different credit card or their bank account.
Apr 15, 2013, 3:13 pm
#1963
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: TX
Posts: 25
I use the myg--tc--ds--e MC and Visa GC...never have any trouble processing the full 500 via AP. I haven't used any special tricks when adding the card info to avoid a $1 auth charge.
Apr 16, 2013, 1:57 pm
#1964
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 1,433
For years I have been going my CC -> My AP -> friends AP -> Cash.
Would it be "safe" for that friend to also start sending me the same in reverse, from the same pair of accounts? Or is this a no-no.
(I want to double my spoils, and I added him as an AU on my account).
Would it be "safe" for that friend to also start sending me the same in reverse, from the same pair of accounts? Or is this a no-no.
(I want to double my spoils, and I added him as an AU on my account).
Apr 16, 2013, 2:15 pm
#1965
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 1,818
For years I have been going my CC -> My AP -> friends AP -> Cash.
Would it be "safe" for that friend to also start sending me the same in reverse, from the same pair of accounts? Or is this a no-no.
(I want to double my spoils, and I added him as an AU on my account).
Would it be "safe" for that friend to also start sending me the same in reverse, from the same pair of accounts? Or is this a no-no.
(I want to double my spoils, and I added him as an AU on my account).