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
Oct 28, 2013, 11:27 am
#2791
Used to be ' simz '
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Kolkata, India
Programs: Does it matter..??? It doesn't matter to them
Posts: 1,129
Oct 28, 2013, 12:28 pm
#2792
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 4,431
I've known about AP for about a year now, but for some reason never jumped in. I now have a few grand in AMEX gift cards and want to liquidate them. I tried sending a payment to my wife (different last name on her Amazon account, but doesn't have AP account), everything looks like it's gone through OK but neither of us have received an email. From what I've reads, there is some question of whether gift cards can still be used. How long does it normally take before either of us gets an email confirming the transfer?
Also, I haven't seen any bloggers address the receiving end-- when it goes through, what will my wife see when she logs onto Amazon? Will there be an alert of money waiting to be claimed? Will she be able to retrieve the money with just a regular Amazon account, or will she need an AP account as well?
Also, I haven't seen any bloggers address the receiving end-- when it goes through, what will my wife see when she logs onto Amazon? Will there be an alert of money waiting to be claimed? Will she be able to retrieve the money with just a regular Amazon account, or will she need an AP account as well?
Last edited by DaveInLA; Oct 28, 2013 at 12:38 pm
Oct 28, 2013, 1:15 pm
#2793
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 291
I don't know if anything has changed recently, but using the same IP and sending to someone at the same address has been done many times in the past without problem.
Last edited by zenride; Oct 28, 2013 at 5:04 pm
Oct 28, 2013, 1:26 pm
#2794
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: SAN
Posts: 1,396
I've been doing this for months. I manage both accounts from my computer and we live at the same address - A > B (withdrawal to B's individual account) B > A (withdrawal to A's individual account).
The only thing I do to avoid problems is I separate those two transactions by about a week, and I try to wait at least a few hours between transfer and withdrawal (Usually either transfer in morning and withdraw in evening, or transfer in evening and withdraw next morning). I also transfer varying amounts (not the full $1000) ranging between ~$985-$999 - and not the same amount between the two accounts. i.e., A-B transfer is $992, B-A is $997.
Oct 28, 2013, 10:14 pm
#2797
Join Date: Mar 2011
Programs: AA Platinum Pro, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Exploralist, Marriot Silver
Posts: 2,065
Oct 28, 2013, 11:07 pm
#2799
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: WAS
Programs: SPG Plat. Marriott Plat. Hilton Diamond. Hyatt Diamond. IHG Plat.
Posts: 2,580
Only have $500 left with Discover to get the last of the bonus. Hopefully I can finish it at the first of the month before the statement cuts.
Oct 29, 2013, 3:06 pm
#2802
Suspended
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: LAX/SNA
Programs: AA, Hilton Gold
Posts: 3,887
Oct 30, 2013, 5:00 am
#2805
Suspended
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: USA
Programs: All major programs
Posts: 1,403