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
Jul 13, 2014 | 7:02 pm
#4486
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 3,688
Pardon me if his has been answered before. But let's say i have sent 1k per month to my wife for "Goods and Services" over the past 12 months using Amazon Payments. Will this 12k not be considered taxable income for her? If I am audited by the IRS, could I be penalized for not reporting income? I understand that Amazon does not send her a 1099, but I just don't want a mess on my hands down the road. Thoughts? Any help is appreciated.
Beginning with the 2011 tax year, new Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations require that U.S. third-party settlement organizations and payment processors, including Amazon Payments, file Form 1099-K to report unadjusted annual gross sales or payment volume information for customers who meet both of the following thresholds in a calendar year:
More than $20,000 in gross payment volume, and
More than 200 transactions.
xxxxx
Therefore, if you send and/or receive $1K/month, that'll will only be $12K a year which does not meet any of the above threshold.
HTH
source: https://payments.amazon.com/help/Per...t-Transactions
Last edited by Mamibear; Jul 13, 2014 at 7:04 pm Reason: linked source of info
Jul 14, 2014 | 7:27 am
#4488
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 38
Thank you for clarifying!^
IRS Reporting Regulations on Third-Party Payment Transactions
Beginning with the 2011 tax year, new Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations require that U.S. third-party settlement organizations and payment processors, including Amazon Payments, file Form 1099-K to report unadjusted annual gross sales or payment volume information for customers who meet both of the following thresholds in a calendar year:
More than $20,000 in gross payment volume, and
More than 200 transactions.
xxxxx
Therefore, if you send and/or receive $1K/month, that'll will only be $12K a year which does not meet any of the above threshold.
HTH
source: https://payments.amazon.com/help/Per...t-Transactions
Beginning with the 2011 tax year, new Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations require that U.S. third-party settlement organizations and payment processors, including Amazon Payments, file Form 1099-K to report unadjusted annual gross sales or payment volume information for customers who meet both of the following thresholds in a calendar year:
More than $20,000 in gross payment volume, and
More than 200 transactions.
xxxxx
Therefore, if you send and/or receive $1K/month, that'll will only be $12K a year which does not meet any of the above threshold.
HTH
source: https://payments.amazon.com/help/Per...t-Transactions
Jul 15, 2014 | 10:28 am
#4489
Join Date: May 2012
Location: NYC
Programs: AA, UA, SPG
Posts: 105
No good; account shut down today, unique info, not a duplicate. Added a new CC in account name, sent $450 pmt to party same as has been done for >24 months (subcontractor fees) and AP froze the sending account after a 12 hour hold. No email other than 'failed payment' but account is definitely shut down. Should have the appearance and fact of being legitimate by most standards...
Worthwhile to work at resuscitating, or easier to ask for close + reopen again?
Worthwhile to work at resuscitating, or easier to ask for close + reopen again?
Jul 16, 2014 | 6:38 am
#4491
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Texas
Programs: AA, USAir
Posts: 228
No good; account shut down today, unique info, not a duplicate. Added a new CC in account name, sent $450 pmt to party same as has been done for >24 months (subcontractor fees) and AP froze the sending account after a 12 hour hold. No email other than 'failed payment' but account is definitely shut down. Should have the appearance and fact of being legitimate by most standards...
Worthwhile to work at resuscitating, or easier to ask for close + reopen again?
Worthwhile to work at resuscitating, or easier to ask for close + reopen again?
Perhaps there is a trick to adding a new card (i.e. wait a few days before spending, or send a very small amount to 'kick start' it, etc?)
Jul 16, 2014 | 12:20 pm
#4493
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 204
Here's something new (at least to me):
Opened a new account yesterday (admittedly, my 3rd account with same name, address, and social). Added a withdrawing bank account (not a duplicate of what's associated with my other AP accounts). Added a CC (never used before with any other account). Attempted to send $600 to my wife's account. A few hours later I received an email titled "Account on hold - Response Required."
The email went on to say:
"Unfortunately, we are currently unable to process your transaction(s). As part of our verification process, we request that you fax us a copy of a recent credit card billing statement confirming the name, address, and telephone number associated with the credit card presented for your transaction."
It later went on to say:
"At this time, your Amazon payments account has been placed on hold. This means that you will not be able to access your transaction information online. Please do not initiate any further transactions or open a new Amazon Payments account until the billing information associated with your credit card has been verified."
A subsequent email notified me that my payment has failed.
I did NOT receive a "payment failed due to multiple accounts" email as I have in the past, so it appears that the multiple accounts is not the issue (at least for now).
Anyone have any experience with this type of request?
Opened a new account yesterday (admittedly, my 3rd account with same name, address, and social). Added a withdrawing bank account (not a duplicate of what's associated with my other AP accounts). Added a CC (never used before with any other account). Attempted to send $600 to my wife's account. A few hours later I received an email titled "Account on hold - Response Required."
The email went on to say:
"Unfortunately, we are currently unable to process your transaction(s). As part of our verification process, we request that you fax us a copy of a recent credit card billing statement confirming the name, address, and telephone number associated with the credit card presented for your transaction."
It later went on to say:
"At this time, your Amazon payments account has been placed on hold. This means that you will not be able to access your transaction information online. Please do not initiate any further transactions or open a new Amazon Payments account until the billing information associated with your credit card has been verified."
A subsequent email notified me that my payment has failed.
I did NOT receive a "payment failed due to multiple accounts" email as I have in the past, so it appears that the multiple accounts is not the issue (at least for now).
Anyone have any experience with this type of request?
Jul 16, 2014 | 1:37 pm
#4494
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 3,688
Here's something new (at least to me):
Opened a new account yesterday (admittedly, my 3rd account with same name, address, and social). Added a withdrawing bank account (not a duplicate of what's associated with my other AP accounts). Added a CC (never used before with any other account). Attempted to send $600 to my wife's account. A few hours later I received an email titled "Account on hold - Response Required."
The email went on to say:
"Unfortunately, we are currently unable to process your transaction(s). As part of our verification process, we request that you fax us a copy of a recent credit card billing statement confirming the name, address, and telephone number associated with the credit card presented for your transaction."
It later went on to say:
"At this time, your Amazon payments account has been placed on hold. This means that you will not be able to access your transaction information online. Please do not initiate any further transactions or open a new Amazon Payments account until the billing information associated with your credit card has been verified."
A subsequent email notified me that my payment has failed.
I did NOT receive a "payment failed due to multiple accounts" email as I have in the past, so it appears that the multiple accounts is not the issue (at least for now).
Anyone have any experience with this type of request?
Opened a new account yesterday (admittedly, my 3rd account with same name, address, and social). Added a withdrawing bank account (not a duplicate of what's associated with my other AP accounts). Added a CC (never used before with any other account). Attempted to send $600 to my wife's account. A few hours later I received an email titled "Account on hold - Response Required."
The email went on to say:
"Unfortunately, we are currently unable to process your transaction(s). As part of our verification process, we request that you fax us a copy of a recent credit card billing statement confirming the name, address, and telephone number associated with the credit card presented for your transaction."
It later went on to say:
"At this time, your Amazon payments account has been placed on hold. This means that you will not be able to access your transaction information online. Please do not initiate any further transactions or open a new Amazon Payments account until the billing information associated with your credit card has been verified."
A subsequent email notified me that my payment has failed.
I did NOT receive a "payment failed due to multiple accounts" email as I have in the past, so it appears that the multiple accounts is not the issue (at least for now).
Anyone have any experience with this type of request?
while we can test boundaries, we should also be prepared for adverse consequences, if any.
btw, just because others can get away with multiple accounts using same info, it does not mean all of us have the same luck.
Jul 16, 2014 | 2:08 pm
#4495
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 55
Here's something new (at least to me):
Opened a new account yesterday (admittedly, my 3rd account with same name, address, and social). Added a withdrawing bank account (not a duplicate of what's associated with my other AP accounts). Added a CC (never used before with any other account). Attempted to send $600 to my wife's account. A few hours later I received an email titled "Account on hold - Response Required."
The email went on to say:
"Unfortunately, we are currently unable to process your transaction(s). As part of our verification process, we request that you fax us a copy of a recent credit card billing statement confirming the name, address, and telephone number associated with the credit card presented for your transaction."
It later went on to say:
"At this time, your Amazon payments account has been placed on hold. This means that you will not be able to access your transaction information online. Please do not initiate any further transactions or open a new Amazon Payments account until the billing information associated with your credit card has been verified."
A subsequent email notified me that my payment has failed.
I did NOT receive a "payment failed due to multiple accounts" email as I have in the past, so it appears that the multiple accounts is not the issue (at least for now).
Anyone have any experience with this type of request?
Opened a new account yesterday (admittedly, my 3rd account with same name, address, and social). Added a withdrawing bank account (not a duplicate of what's associated with my other AP accounts). Added a CC (never used before with any other account). Attempted to send $600 to my wife's account. A few hours later I received an email titled "Account on hold - Response Required."
The email went on to say:
"Unfortunately, we are currently unable to process your transaction(s). As part of our verification process, we request that you fax us a copy of a recent credit card billing statement confirming the name, address, and telephone number associated with the credit card presented for your transaction."
It later went on to say:
"At this time, your Amazon payments account has been placed on hold. This means that you will not be able to access your transaction information online. Please do not initiate any further transactions or open a new Amazon Payments account until the billing information associated with your credit card has been verified."
A subsequent email notified me that my payment has failed.
I did NOT receive a "payment failed due to multiple accounts" email as I have in the past, so it appears that the multiple accounts is not the issue (at least for now).
Anyone have any experience with this type of request?
Where I'm from, we call this ballsey. Good luck.
Jul 16, 2014 | 3:06 pm
#4496
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 756
Jul 16, 2014 | 5:28 pm
#4497
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 120
made a silly mistake today. sent $200 to my friend yesterday who accidentally refunded the amount to my Amex gift card (this was how I sent the money to him). I should have been careful and not sent the same amount to him again (because refunds to Amex gift cards can take 7-10 business days) and as soon as I did that, the transaction failed.
After reading all the shutdowns, I don't want to attempt this again anytime soon. Let us see what happens.
After reading all the shutdowns, I don't want to attempt this again anytime soon. Let us see what happens.
Jul 16, 2014 | 7:01 pm
#4498
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Boston
Posts: 106
Amazon request idenity
since you admittedly tried to open a NEW account using the same name, address, SSN, don't expect it to go through since it may have been flagged since you already have an account. if you were just taking your chances hoping it'll go through, you know now that you failed. Hopefully, your ongoing active account will not be affected by this action.
while we can test boundaries, we should also be prepared for adverse consequences, if any.
btw, just because others can get away with multiple accounts using same info, it does not mean all of us have the same luck.
while we can test boundaries, we should also be prepared for adverse consequences, if any.
btw, just because others can get away with multiple accounts using same info, it does not mean all of us have the same luck.
Jul 16, 2014 | 7:05 pm
#4499
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 3,688
I wasn't asked to provide documents, I fulfilled all the requirements so I can link CCs to add funds and a bank account to w/d from AP. I am satisfied to have separate accounts for me and DH and have no plans to add more knowing I cannot have control of those accounts.
Jul 17, 2014 | 10:39 am
#4500
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 204
since you admittedly tried to open a NEW account using the same name, address, SSN, don't expect it to go through since it may have been flagged since you already have an account. if you were just taking your chances hoping it'll go through, you know now that you failed. Hopefully, your ongoing active account will not be affected by this action.
while we can test boundaries, we should also be prepared for adverse consequences, if any.
btw, just because others can get away with multiple accounts using same info, it does not mean all of us have the same luck.
while we can test boundaries, we should also be prepared for adverse consequences, if any.
btw, just because others can get away with multiple accounts using same info, it does not mean all of us have the same luck.
This appears to be something different entirely. This is an email requesting a credit card statement, I guess to verify that I am the user of this credit card. I've never seen this before or heard anyone report on something like this. I'll send them the verification they are asking for and see what happens. Worst case scenario, this particular account gets shut down.