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
Oct 1, 2014, 11:06 pm
#4893
Suspended
Join Date: May 2014
Location: ILG/PHL
Programs: Amex Plat, AA Gold, SPG Gold, Hyatt Gold, HHonors Gold, Carlson Gold
Posts: 1,075
I hope AP can continue to be of use by allowing me to add money to my AP wallet directly from a bank account and then withdraw it back to to same bank account to cover direct deposit requirements.
Oct 2, 2014, 7:24 am
#4895
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Minneapolis, originally from Cincinnati
Programs: Diamond with Delta, Hyatt and Hilton. 2 MM and Plat with America (thank you citi:))
Posts: 2,345
It is fun to think about what AP has gotten you over all this time. Thousands of dollars in CB (especially in the last month with CVS's no fee AGCs!). Enough Club Carlson points to cover a stay in Tahiti and a nice hotel in London, plus enough Arrival+ miles to cover any fees and taxes for the flight.
I hope AP can continue to be of use by allowing me to add money to my AP wallet directly from a bank account and then withdraw it back to to same bank account to cover direct deposit requirements.
I hope AP can continue to be of use by allowing me to add money to my AP wallet directly from a bank account and then withdraw it back to to same bank account to cover direct deposit requirements.
I wanted to cry when they shut down the mint coin purchase program. Thanks to that program I am lifetime Platinum on American even though I don't fly them much and was able to fly my kids and wife to London and pay for the hotel with Hilton points just on the Am Ex points on my Delta and Hilton points. I was fortunate enough to get in on that program early and did millions in MS. I would love to see a program like that come back
Oct 2, 2014, 7:29 am
#4896
Join Date: Oct 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist No More..., Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 4,375
Unfortunately, like Venmo, I didn't find out about AP until a few months before it ended but still received some credit card perks for a few minutes of time each month.
I wanted to cry when they shut down the mint coin purchase program. Thanks to that program I am lifetime Platinum on American even though I don't fly them much and was able to fly my kids and wife to London and pay for the hotel with Hilton points just on the Am Ex points on my Delta and Hilton points. I was fortunate enough to get in on that program early and did millions in MS. I would love to see a program like that come back
I wanted to cry when they shut down the mint coin purchase program. Thanks to that program I am lifetime Platinum on American even though I don't fly them much and was able to fly my kids and wife to London and pay for the hotel with Hilton points just on the Am Ex points on my Delta and Hilton points. I was fortunate enough to get in on that program early and did millions in MS. I would love to see a program like that come back
Oct 2, 2014, 7:39 am
#4897
Formerly known as FTRox87
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: TX
Programs: AA/US 1M, AS, BA, CX, EK, EY, JL, KE, LH, NH, OS, QF, QR, TG, UA/CO | *$G
Posts: 1,428
Those who started early, for about 3 yrs between 2008-2011. However I believe even before the Mint deal became famous on FT & elsewhere, some folks were milking it for months and even years prior to that.
Oct 2, 2014, 8:31 am
#4898
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 57
Just to share, when entering an AGC for my "real" account I forgot to correct the date after entering so it failed. Corrected the date, went pending, failed a few hours later.
Don't think I am blocked but I'll probably wait a couple of days before trying a different AGC (and perhaps give in and just use a CC if that doesn't work). Admittedly, I got lazy with the IPs and might not have done the associations correctly.
Goodbye, AP.
Don't think I am blocked but I'll probably wait a couple of days before trying a different AGC (and perhaps give in and just use a CC if that doesn't work). Admittedly, I got lazy with the IPs and might not have done the associations correctly.
Goodbye, AP.
Oct 2, 2014, 8:44 am
#4899
Join Date: May 2014
Location: New York
Posts: 391
Oct 2, 2014, 9:57 am
#4901
Join Date: Oct 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist No More..., Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 4,375
Oct 2, 2014, 12:52 pm
#4902
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Texas
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold
Posts: 279
It's absolutely remarkable that a company as sophisticated as Amazon funded this gravy train year after year.
But what shocks me nearly as much is that they never tried to reform it before axing it altogether. Why not limit the free transfer to say, 100 bucks, with a marginal fee, say 1% for $100-1000, and measure the response? I'm sure this was a useful service that generated brand loyalty with a lot of people, why let the miles hobbyists ruin it for everyone?
But what shocks me nearly as much is that they never tried to reform it before axing it altogether. Why not limit the free transfer to say, 100 bucks, with a marginal fee, say 1% for $100-1000, and measure the response? I'm sure this was a useful service that generated brand loyalty with a lot of people, why let the miles hobbyists ruin it for everyone?
Oct 2, 2014, 1:37 pm
#4903
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 891
i will really miss this. started when i was getting 3X points on my amex prg for long time, and was doing 3K every month till now. will be surely missed. this was the main source of getting 30K spend and getting 15K additional MR points on my PRG. sadly, amex is ending that benefit as well.
Oct 2, 2014, 3:52 pm
#4904
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 142
Is there an easy way to tell whether a payment is getting 5% on discover? I've used one discover card for $1K on AP yesterday. But I want to make sure it gets 5% before I use the other one.
Oct 2, 2014, 9:32 pm
#4905
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: NYC
Posts: 398