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 2, 2014 | 9:20 am
#3901
Suspended
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: LAX/SNA
Programs: AA, Hilton Gold
Posts: 3,887
Kind of hoping I get some error, because I realized my statement closes in 2 more days, and I like to do this all right after my statement closes. Put it on the wrong card. =(
Apr 2, 2014 | 9:23 am
#3902
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: SNA/LAX
Posts: 1,410
Apr 2, 2014 | 9:24 am
#3903
Suspended
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: LAX/SNA
Programs: AA, Hilton Gold
Posts: 3,887
Apr 2, 2014 | 10:59 am
#3904
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: WAS
Programs: SPG Plat. Marriott Plat. Hilton Diamond. Hyatt Diamond. IHG Plat.
Posts: 2,580
I had the same panic the other day when I loaded up Serve with my Blue Cash. Statement ends today and the payment posted this morning. Thank God.
Apr 2, 2014 | 11:58 am
#3905
Join Date: Oct 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist No More..., Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 4,386
LOL. Same thing happened to me. I wasn't paying attention to the fact that my statement closed less than a week after I got my card...Plus I was trying to rush to get in my $5k on new Serve acct. I had $3k pending and "guessed" that $1k would post by statement date. When I first paid, I had a $1000 balance but sure enough, $1k posted on the statement day. Balance = $0.
Apr 2, 2014 | 12:19 pm
#3906
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 3,615
LOL. Same thing happened to me. I wasn't paying attention to the fact that my statement closed less than a week after I got my card...Plus I was trying to rush to get in my $5k on new Serve acct. I had $3k pending and "guessed" that $1k would post by statement date. When I first paid, I had a $1000 balance but sure enough, $1k posted on the statement day. Balance = $0.
Apr 2, 2014 | 4:05 pm
#3907
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: WAS
Programs: SPG Plat. Marriott Plat. Hilton Diamond. Hyatt Diamond. IHG Plat.
Posts: 2,580
The best thing to do is not make any more charges on the card 3 days before the statement closes. Unless you have a lot of spare funds in BB or some other method that is not through the Amex online BP, I wouldn't try to risk it if your goal is to achieve $0 balance on your CC by statement close.
Apr 2, 2014 | 4:09 pm
#3908
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 3,615
Apr 2, 2014 | 4:11 pm
#3909
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: WAS
Programs: SPG Plat. Marriott Plat. Hilton Diamond. Hyatt Diamond. IHG Plat.
Posts: 2,580
Apr 2, 2014 | 4:28 pm
#3910
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: SNA/LAX
Posts: 1,410
Apr 2, 2014 | 8:11 pm
#3913
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: WAS
Programs: SPG Plat. Marriott Plat. Hilton Diamond. Hyatt Diamond. IHG Plat.
Posts: 2,580
Apr 3, 2014 | 5:23 am
#3914
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: SNA/LAX
Posts: 1,410
I know if I show 0% utilization, my score will drop 10-15 points, but then 2-4% it increases.
I'm sure that next month I will have my ducks in a row and it'll be back up where it should be!
If it even moves much!
Apr 3, 2014 | 7:55 am
#3915
Join Date: Oct 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist No More..., Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 4,386
The best thing to do is not make any more charges on the card 3 days before the statement closes. Unless you have a lot of spare funds in BB or some other method that is not through the Amex online BP, I wouldn't try to risk it if your goal is to achieve $0 balance on your CC by statement close.
Can you explain your second statement though? I don't understand.