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 17, 2014 | 10:42 am
#4501
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 204
What's ballsey... opening duplicate accounts? I don't think so. Plenty of others have done so and succeeded, including myself. The worst consequence that I've faced so far is that the duplicate account gets shut down, while the original account stays open. I've had some duplicate accounts last months (and still going) without getting shutdown... but I do always use separate bank accounts for withdrawals. And to the extent possible, I pay with separate credit cards. I also don't make transfers between my own duplicate accounts. Basically, I try to avoid crossing the streams as much as I possibly can.
Jul 17, 2014 | 11:53 am
#4502
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 3,688
The fact is, your duplicate account has been flagged, you can believe that your primary account will be safe, if you want to but there are no guarantees. The fact that your wife also has duplicate accounts and you're probably sending/receiving $ to each other using those to go around the $1K policy per person, it is all up to you. If she succeeded and you didn't, consider it a matter of luck!
Jul 17, 2014 | 12:00 pm
#4503
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Los Angeles
Programs: AAdvantage, UAmileage+,SkyMiles,Avios
Posts: 78
Maybe my friend just got bad luck, my friend & her husband each one get there own AP account, husband got shut down end of Jun, but wife still good. Both account has there own SSN, Name, Phone#, and email, the only thing that share is the home address. Friend tried to send email to amazon to ask why but out of 5 email, only 2 reply said both AP account are her account but no more detail. She tried to ask to unblock by providing doc to proof it but they don't care.
Jul 17, 2014 | 3:30 pm
#4504
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 204
if you're not transferring between your duplicate accounts, then why open several of them?
The fact is, your duplicate account has been flagged, you can believe that your primary account will be safe, if you want to but there are no guarantees. The fact that your wife also has duplicate accounts and you're probably sending/receiving $ to each other using those to go around the $1K policy per person, it is all up to you. If she succeeded and you didn't, consider it a matter of luck!
The fact is, your duplicate account has been flagged, you can believe that your primary account will be safe, if you want to but there are no guarantees. The fact that your wife also has duplicate accounts and you're probably sending/receiving $ to each other using those to go around the $1K policy per person, it is all up to you. If she succeeded and you didn't, consider it a matter of luck!
A1 > B1, B1 > A1
A2 > B2, B2 >A2
That's $6k a month in MS right there.
If AP currently saw that my newest account were a duplicate, they wouldn't be asking to verify CC information; they would simply shut it down (as they have in the past). This is something totally different -- go back and read the parts of their email that I posted.
Anyway, my point here wasn't to get into a debate about risk tolerance with respect to opening duplicate accounts. Obviously, if you open duplicate accounts, there is a chance some or all will get shut down.
My point was simply to share new information that I've never seen posted before and ask if anyone has ever received the same request.
Jul 18, 2014 | 4:17 pm
#4505
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Oakland, CA
Posts: 1,247
My wife and I just signed up for the AA 100k card that needs 10k spend in 3 months. Can we send each other 10k using AP (obviously paying the fees)? That would be a fast way to meet the spend requirement. Thanks.
Jul 19, 2014 | 6:36 am
#4507
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 1,273
You must've hit a zombie link! Try WM BP. It's pretty fast too. Most of the ways to meet spend take some legwork.
Jul 19, 2014 | 1:38 pm
#4508
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 186
Ouch, you'd have to pay almost 600$ to send that through AP.
Jul 19, 2014 | 2:05 pm
#4509
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Ohio
Programs: Priority Club Plat
Posts: 396
Is it generally considered safe to do:
A to C, B to D then on the return switch it up, D to A and C to B ??
Each being a real person with SSN and own card and bank account.
Do I need to use different IP addresses too ?
A to C, B to D then on the return switch it up, D to A and C to B ??
Each being a real person with SSN and own card and bank account.
Do I need to use different IP addresses too ?
Jul 19, 2014 | 7:33 pm
#4512
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 3,688
sending and receiving via AP has no fees, but sending via paypal entails 2.9% plus .30 when sending by CC so that'll be $290.30 in pp fees. You can do it one one pp transaction depending on your available CL if it will cover the full 10.29K. If you have AP and Serve with isis, you can send a lesser amount using PP and pay lower fees to meet the $10K min spend in 3 months. You can do it!
Jul 19, 2014 | 8:29 pm
#4513
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: New York
Posts: 12
Meeting The Minimum Expense Requirement Using Amazon Payment
Just applied for chase sapphire preferred credit card & I must spend $3000 in 3 months to receive the sigh-in bonus of 40,000 miles. Here is my concern
Myself is the working person with full time job. The card is in my name & wife is added as an authorized user. After doing lot of research I have come to know that "Amazon Payment" is the most effective way to fulfill the $3000 spending requirement. My questions are:
1) Can I create an "Amazon Payment" for my wife on my own? Obviously we live together & share same address. Wife will never ever send me money (I will be the one who will do the work).
2) I will send $1000 each month to wife's "Amazon Payment" account & then will transfer the money to our joint HSBC checking account. If there any rules I must follow while transferring money to checking account? To be safe I will wait 1 week after "Amazon Payment" to "Amazon Payment" transaction.
3) I understand I need to provide wife's SSN to open "Amazon Payment" account. Will this cause any concerning when we file taxes end of the year? Wife a housewife with $0 income & she is my dependent.
4) Opening up "Amazon Payment" account just to meet the credit card minimum spending require is something I have done before & a bit worried thinking whether or not we will run into any problem in future with IRS?
5) I will opening out account at the same time after receiving the card. Will that raise any concern with Amazon or Chase or IRS?
At the end, I will close by myself saying that I will never even transfer more than $1000 between out "Amazon Payment" accounts & To be safe I will wait 1 week after "Amazon Payment" to "Amazon Payment" transaction. Please guide me if I am missing anything or breaking the Law. Any guidance or tips will be extremely appreciated.
Many Thanks In Advance.
Myself is the working person with full time job. The card is in my name & wife is added as an authorized user. After doing lot of research I have come to know that "Amazon Payment" is the most effective way to fulfill the $3000 spending requirement. My questions are:
1) Can I create an "Amazon Payment" for my wife on my own? Obviously we live together & share same address. Wife will never ever send me money (I will be the one who will do the work).
2) I will send $1000 each month to wife's "Amazon Payment" account & then will transfer the money to our joint HSBC checking account. If there any rules I must follow while transferring money to checking account? To be safe I will wait 1 week after "Amazon Payment" to "Amazon Payment" transaction.
3) I understand I need to provide wife's SSN to open "Amazon Payment" account. Will this cause any concerning when we file taxes end of the year? Wife a housewife with $0 income & she is my dependent.
4) Opening up "Amazon Payment" account just to meet the credit card minimum spending require is something I have done before & a bit worried thinking whether or not we will run into any problem in future with IRS?
5) I will opening out account at the same time after receiving the card. Will that raise any concern with Amazon or Chase or IRS?
At the end, I will close by myself saying that I will never even transfer more than $1000 between out "Amazon Payment" accounts & To be safe I will wait 1 week after "Amazon Payment" to "Amazon Payment" transaction. Please guide me if I am missing anything or breaking the Law. Any guidance or tips will be extremely appreciated.
Many Thanks In Advance.
Jul 19, 2014 | 10:48 pm
#4515
Suspended
Join Date: May 2012
Location: ORD
Programs: AA, UA, AS, DL, BA, F9, IHG Plat, HH Gold, CC Gold, SPG Gold, MR Silver
Posts: 1,786
Everything you ever wanted to know about AP
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manuf...-payments.html
Mods please merge this into the AP thread
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manuf...-payments.html
Mods please merge this into the AP thread