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
Feb 5, 2014 | 4:35 pm
#3482
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: NY
Posts: 233
From the wiki:
I've been doing the above religiously for two years. Never had an issue. I think we should consider removing this from the wiki, as it adds a disproven theory. I understand the word, "might," precedes the two points, but it's been proven that this does not get your AP account shut down.
Sending money back and forth between two accounts (i.e., A -> B -> A)
Associating one credit card number with more than one AP account
Associating one credit card number with more than one AP account
Feb 5, 2014 | 4:37 pm
#3483
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 801
From the wiki:
I've been doing the above religiously for two years. Never had an issue. I think we should consider removing this from the wiki, as it adds a disproven theory. I understand the word, "might," precedes the two points, but it's been proven that this does not get your AP account shut down.
I've been doing the above religiously for two years. Never had an issue. I think we should consider removing this from the wiki, as it adds a disproven theory. I understand the word, "might," precedes the two points, but it's been proven that this does not get your AP account shut down.
Feb 6, 2014 | 12:07 am
#3484
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: NY
Posts: 233
Yeah, and? You say that like you know it will cause issues...
I haven't heard of anyone else getting shut down due to STRICTLY those two things. The people that get shut down are the ones who have multiple accounts utilizing the same social security number, from what I've read. That one factor seems to be the most common.
I haven't heard of anyone else getting shut down due to STRICTLY those two things. The people that get shut down are the ones who have multiple accounts utilizing the same social security number, from what I've read. That one factor seems to be the most common.
Feb 6, 2014 | 6:21 am
#3485
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 801
I'm sure you'll get shut down eventually. Nobody knows why. To say that your method is totally safe, when others have been shutdown and have been doing your method, seems to guarantee something that you can't guarantee. The best you can say is that you're doing it, not getting shut down, and don't know why.
I haven't heard of anyone else getting shut down due to STRICTLY those two things. The people that get shut down are the ones who have multiple accounts utilizing the same social security number, from what I've read. That one factor seems to be the most common.
Since nobody knows why shutdowns happen, nobody can say one way or the other what causes them. Yours is a useful data point, but doesn't mean it's not a cause for shutdown in somebody else's case.
I haven't heard of anyone else getting shut down due to STRICTLY those two things. The people that get shut down are the ones who have multiple accounts utilizing the same social security number, from what I've read. That one factor seems to be the most common.
Feb 6, 2014 | 6:45 am
#3486
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 61
In the Wiki, one possible cause of account shutdown listed is "Frequently adding/deleting credit or gift card numbers to your AP account (e.g., buying multiple Amex gift cards and liquidating them via AP)". How often is "frequently"? If I am doing this, wouldn't I just buy two $500 GCs and unload it to AP? Is two cards a month too often?
Feb 6, 2014 | 8:17 am
#3487
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 829
In the Wiki, one possible cause of account shutdown listed is "Frequently adding/deleting credit or gift card numbers to your AP account (e.g., buying multiple Amex gift cards and liquidating them via AP)". How often is "frequently"? If I am doing this, wouldn't I just buy two $500 GCs and unload it to AP? Is two cards a month too often?
Feb 6, 2014 | 11:24 am
#3489
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: SNA/LAX
Posts: 1,410
Feb 6, 2014 | 12:40 pm
#3491
Join Date: Oct 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist No More..., Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 4,386
This is actually good news. I was thinking about getting my mom to open me an AP account. She already gave me access to her BB. I currently use AP to my sister. I have access to her AP account to deposit the money to her bank and then she just sends back to me. So now I think I can do Me->Sister->Mom->Me and use Amex GCs which won't require their real credit cards. For me and Mom, I would have the money instantly. However given the note in the wiki, I was thinking that maybe I could do $3k Amex cards on the accounts so I would only have to switch out 4 times a year.
Feb 6, 2014 | 12:49 pm
#3492
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 920
This is actually good news. I was thinking about getting my mom to open me an AP account. She already gave me access to her BB. I currently use AP to my sister. I have access to her AP account to deposit the money to her bank and then she just sends back to me. So now I think I can do Me->Sister->Mom->Me and use Amex GCs which won't require their real credit cards. For me and Mom, I would have the money instantly. However given the note in the wiki, I was thinking that maybe I could do $3k Amex cards on the accounts so I would only have to switch out 4 times a year.
Feb 6, 2014 | 1:09 pm
#3493
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 829
Feb 6, 2014 | 2:27 pm
#3494
Join Date: Oct 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist No More..., Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 4,386
Thanks but I would rather not add anyone to my credit cards unless they are a spouse or child. Amex GCs are easy enough. I buy them for VRs anyways and this is just another way to use them and get more cashback vs just using a personal credit card.
Last edited by cdancer20; Feb 6, 2014 at 2:55 pm