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 20, 2014 | 9:25 am
#3796
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: WAS
Programs: SPG Plat. Marriott Plat. Hilton Diamond. Hyatt Diamond. IHG Plat.
Posts: 2,580
3 per physical address.
I don't know where the "rule" came from. But I could see why it's been mentioned in this thread before. Less reasons to grab attention.
This.
Mar 20, 2014 | 9:43 am
#3797
Join Date: Jan 2013
Programs: AA, SPG, MR, UR, Cash Back!
Posts: 606
Mar 20, 2014 | 9:51 am
#3799
Join Date: Oct 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist No More..., Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 4,386
Mar 20, 2014 | 11:38 am
#3800
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 1,627
I opened AP using my existing amazon.com credentials.
There was a CC already in there.
It sent email saying "We have verified your identity information. Your Amazon Payments account has now been activated"
Then I added a Bank a/c and now it is going to put a few deposits. Also then asked my DL #.
Can take $1 from my CC and send it to B as "Goods and Service"? Or should I wait for the bank to clear? Also, how do I identify the receiver of the fund ... email?
Is the monthly limit is based on Calendar Month? So it ends on Mar 31st?
There was a CC already in there.
It sent email saying "We have verified your identity information. Your Amazon Payments account has now been activated"
Then I added a Bank a/c and now it is going to put a few deposits. Also then asked my DL #.
Can take $1 from my CC and send it to B as "Goods and Service"? Or should I wait for the bank to clear? Also, how do I identify the receiver of the fund ... email?
Is the monthly limit is based on Calendar Month? So it ends on Mar 31st?
Last edited by sciconf; Mar 20, 2014 at 1:16 pm
Mar 20, 2014 | 12:26 pm
#3801
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: OC/LAX
Posts: 376
Mar 20, 2014 | 3:13 pm
#3802
Used to be ' simz '
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Kolkata, India
Programs: Does it matter..??? It doesn't matter to them
Posts: 1,142
I opened AP using my existing amazon.com credentials.
There was a CC already in there.
It sent email saying "We have verified your identity information. Your Amazon Payments account has now been activated"
Then I added a Bank a/c and now it is going to put a few deposits. Also then asked my DL #.
Can take $1 from my CC and send it to B as "Goods and Service"? Or should I wait for the bank to clear? Also, how do I identify the receiver of the fund ... email?
Is the monthly limit is based on Calendar Month? So it ends on Mar 31st?
There was a CC already in there.
It sent email saying "We have verified your identity information. Your Amazon Payments account has now been activated"
Then I added a Bank a/c and now it is going to put a few deposits. Also then asked my DL #.
Can take $1 from my CC and send it to B as "Goods and Service"? Or should I wait for the bank to clear? Also, how do I identify the receiver of the fund ... email?
Is the monthly limit is based on Calendar Month? So it ends on Mar 31st?
the monthly limit is calendar.. so yeah it resets on 1st April..
Mar 21, 2014 | 3:39 am
#3804
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 55
It is generally advised for the 2nd AP account to have a 2nd bank account, although there have been reported success stories. Some people take no precautions at all and claim they have been doing it that way for years without a problem. Others claimed to have their account shut down for very minor things. You can take all the risks you want to, but it may be more prudent to be overly careful if you want to continue. Nice little points/CB stream that you jeopardize if you chance it too much.
Mar 21, 2014 | 8:24 am
#3805
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 55
Once money is received and withdrawn from AP to the linked bank account, does it really take 5-7 business days to post to the bank account? If so, yikes. Now when the money posts, if you do an ACH to get the funds to the original senders account, thats another 4-5 days possibly, tying up money two weeks? So be it.
Mar 21, 2014 | 8:33 am
#3806
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Land of the parrots and parrotheads
Programs: Several dozen
Posts: 4,820
The Bezos tribe of headhunters are very fickle in who they go after. At times it seems like they select their victims by throwing poison darts on a dart board. There are just no hard and fast rules in the jungle.
It is generally advised for the 2nd AP account to have a 2nd bank account, although there have been reported success stories. Some people take no precautions at all and claim they have been doing it that way for years without a problem. Others claimed to have their account shut down for very minor things. You can take all the risks you want to, but it may be more prudent to be overly careful if you want to continue. Nice little points/CB stream that you jeopardize if you chance it too much.
Mar 21, 2014 | 9:08 am
#3807
Join Date: Jan 2013
Programs: AA, SPG, MR, UR, Cash Back!
Posts: 606
Mar 21, 2014 | 11:17 am
#3810
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 55
I would wait.