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
Nov 15, 2012, 7:49 pm
#948
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: NYC
Posts: 1,756
Nov 15, 2012, 10:29 pm
#949
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Land of the parrots and parrotheads
Programs: Several dozen
Posts: 4,820
There has been a tightening of internal controls over at AP. Some interesting and profitable opportunities have been shut down. AP changed account processing logic to eliminate some magic card tricks.
Best get your Plan B up and active. First the beans got burnt and now there are puffs of smoke coming from the rainforest.
**Update - another puff of smoke in the jungle. Transaction failed even though within the monthly transaction limits for the two accounts involved. In the past transactions flagged "Pending" regularly cleared.**
Anyone else gone native in the jungle seeing signs of changes?
Best get your Plan B up and active. First the beans got burnt and now there are puffs of smoke coming from the rainforest.
**Update - another puff of smoke in the jungle. Transaction failed even though within the monthly transaction limits for the two accounts involved. In the past transactions flagged "Pending" regularly cleared.**
Anyone else gone native in the jungle seeing signs of changes?
Last edited by AlohaDaveKennedy; Nov 18, 2012 at 10:32 am
Nov 16, 2012, 6:25 am
#952
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: LAS
Programs: DL PM, UA PS, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 4,904
Nov 16, 2012, 7:02 pm
#953
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: PDX
Programs: United, SPG, Hyatt
Posts: 167
Yes, although I'm unsure in which timezone the cut-off is. Therefore I try to get all my transactions done before the last day of the month in order to not accidentally dip into next month's allotment.
Nov 16, 2012, 7:54 pm
#954
Join Date: May 2008
Location: PHL (kinda, no airport is really close)
Programs: AA Exp, but not sure for how long. Enterprise Platinum woo-hoo!
Posts: 4,551
Last week I did a transaction at 12:06AM Eastern time, and noticed that it posted at 9:06PM the previous day. So I assume Amazon uses Pacific time.
Nov 16, 2012, 8:40 pm
#955
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: PDX
Programs: United, SPG, Hyatt
Posts: 167
Nov 16, 2012, 9:44 pm
#957
Join Date: Apr 2011
Programs: UA Gold, AA Gold, Hyatt Plat, SPG Gold, Marriott Plat, Hilton Gold, Hertz Pres Circle, etc etc
Posts: 382
There has been a tightening of internal controls over at AP. Some interesting and profitable opportunities have been shut down. AP changed account processing logic to eliminate some magic card tricks.
Best get your Plan B up and active. First the beans got burnt and now there are puffs of smoke coming from the rainforest.
Best get your Plan B up and active. First the beans got burnt and now there are puffs of smoke coming from the rainforest.
Nov 16, 2012, 9:51 pm
#958
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 17,427
I guess folks are justifiably unwilling to share their AP "secrets," but it sure seems like less than a sure-fire gift card "processing" service to me. It's actually a PITA: I never seem to know when my payments will work, or when I'll get the "fail" message.
Nov 17, 2012, 10:48 am
#960
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 86
In the past I've been able to charge my Citi Amex Business, Chase PC and BOA Cash Rewards on AP w/o a cash advance fee.
I'm getting 2 new cards in next week: Chase Hyatt & Citi Visa. Does anyone have recent info on whether those cards are subject to cash advance categorization?
I saw a post a few pages back on a fee imposed for the Citi Visa, but I thought maybe that poster selected the wrong category.
Input appreciated, thanks.
I'm getting 2 new cards in next week: Chase Hyatt & Citi Visa. Does anyone have recent info on whether those cards are subject to cash advance categorization?
I saw a post a few pages back on a fee imposed for the Citi Visa, but I thought maybe that poster selected the wrong category.
Input appreciated, thanks.