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
Jun 2, 2014, 12:47 pm
#4172
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Wine Country, Finger Lakes
Programs: LFFRS BOD
Posts: 1,355
Ok, I am a bit dense here... I have done this 3x now.
first time sent $1k to my son and he paid us back via paypal
Did again this month , this time $500 on one cc and was charged an extra $1.00
then on a different cc sent $498 thinking that there would be another $1 charge but didn't so I kept the total under $1k
Now I am still pondering how is this not actually spending my own $1k to pay the bills?
Sorry, I just don't get it.
I send $$ to son via AP charging my cc
My cc bill shows $$ and I pay it thus taking $$ out of my checking account to pay the bill ( money gone now)
Son repays what I sent him via paypal
( that money is returned in order to pay the cc bill)
Please help this senior citizen figure it out.. thanks
first time sent $1k to my son and he paid us back via paypal
Did again this month , this time $500 on one cc and was charged an extra $1.00
then on a different cc sent $498 thinking that there would be another $1 charge but didn't so I kept the total under $1k
Now I am still pondering how is this not actually spending my own $1k to pay the bills?
Sorry, I just don't get it.
I send $$ to son via AP charging my cc
My cc bill shows $$ and I pay it thus taking $$ out of my checking account to pay the bill ( money gone now)
Son repays what I sent him via paypal
( that money is returned in order to pay the cc bill)
Please help this senior citizen figure it out.. thanks
Jun 2, 2014, 1:28 pm
#4174
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: MDT
Programs: DL, AA
Posts: 390
Ok, I am a bit dense here... I have done this 3x now.
first time sent $1k to my son and he paid us back via paypal
Did again this month , this time $500 on one cc and was charged an extra $1.00
then on a different cc sent $498 thinking that there would be another $1 charge but didn't so I kept the total under $1k
Now I am still pondering how is this not actually spending my own $1k to pay the bills?
Sorry, I just don't get it.
I send $$ to son via AP charging my cc
My cc bill shows $$ and I pay it thus taking $$ out of my checking account to pay the bill ( money gone now)
Son repays what I sent him via paypal
( that money is returned in order to pay the cc bill)
Please help this senior citizen figure it out.. thanks
first time sent $1k to my son and he paid us back via paypal
Did again this month , this time $500 on one cc and was charged an extra $1.00
then on a different cc sent $498 thinking that there would be another $1 charge but didn't so I kept the total under $1k
Now I am still pondering how is this not actually spending my own $1k to pay the bills?
Sorry, I just don't get it.
I send $$ to son via AP charging my cc
My cc bill shows $$ and I pay it thus taking $$ out of my checking account to pay the bill ( money gone now)
Son repays what I sent him via paypal
( that money is returned in order to pay the cc bill)
Please help this senior citizen figure it out.. thanks
Jun 2, 2014, 2:01 pm
#4175
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 129
Ok, I am a bit dense here... I have done this 3x now.
first time sent $1k to my son and he paid us back via paypal
Did again this month , this time $500 on one cc and was charged an extra $1.00
then on a different cc sent $498 thinking that there would be another $1 charge but didn't so I kept the total under $1k
Now I am still pondering how is this not actually spending my own $1k to pay the bills?
Sorry, I just don't get it.
I send $$ to son via AP charging my cc
My cc bill shows $$ and I pay it thus taking $$ out of my checking account to pay the bill ( money gone now)
Son repays what I sent him via paypal
( that money is returned in order to pay the cc bill)
Please help this senior citizen figure it out.. thanks
first time sent $1k to my son and he paid us back via paypal
Did again this month , this time $500 on one cc and was charged an extra $1.00
then on a different cc sent $498 thinking that there would be another $1 charge but didn't so I kept the total under $1k
Now I am still pondering how is this not actually spending my own $1k to pay the bills?
Sorry, I just don't get it.
I send $$ to son via AP charging my cc
My cc bill shows $$ and I pay it thus taking $$ out of my checking account to pay the bill ( money gone now)
Son repays what I sent him via paypal
( that money is returned in order to pay the cc bill)
Please help this senior citizen figure it out.. thanks
amazon and paypal are basically middlemen in u passing money back and forth
Jun 2, 2014, 3:17 pm
#4176
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Sacramento, CA
Posts: 374
Jun 3, 2014, 11:02 am
#4178
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: WAS
Programs: SPG Plat. Marriott Plat. Hilton Diamond. Hyatt Diamond. IHG Plat.
Posts: 2,580
Jun 4, 2014, 9:10 am
#4180
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: SNA/LAX
Posts: 1,407
Took a risk and attached one card to two of my accounts and this morning the account that I recently added the same card to is on hold. I should have listened to my gut, but oh well, at least only one account is down and I'm done for the month.
Jun 4, 2014, 10:35 am
#4182
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: WAS
Programs: SPG Plat. Marriott Plat. Hilton Diamond. Hyatt Diamond. IHG Plat.
Posts: 2,580
Wait. Wait.
Going through my information. I did have 1 Ink fail the other day.... Wasn't sure what happened. Peeved me though since fails count against your limit.
Going through my information. I did have 1 Ink fail the other day.... Wasn't sure what happened. Peeved me though since fails count against your limit.