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
Dec 3, 2012, 11:17 pm
#991
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Arizona
Programs: AA, WN
Posts: 161
A few years ago, I took a survey which required me to open an Amazon Payments account in order to receive payment. Since then, I haven't used the service. I am hesitant to provide my SSN due to ID theft possibilities. What's the worst that will happen if I don't provide my SSN? Will I still be able to use regular Amazon.com for shopping? I could care less about Amazon Payments since I've only used it once. I don't want to jeopardize my regular Amazon.com account.
Dec 3, 2012, 11:28 pm
#992
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: LAX
Posts: 298
A few years ago, I took a survey which required me to open an Amazon Payments account in order to receive payment. Since then, I haven't used the service. I am hesitant to provide my SSN due to ID theft possibilities. What's the worst that will happen if I don't provide my SSN? Will I still be able to use regular Amazon.com for shopping? I could care less about Amazon Payments since I've only used it once. I don't want to jeopardize my regular Amazon.com account.
Dec 3, 2012, 11:30 pm
#993
Join Date: Oct 2007
Programs: Marriott, Radisson, AA, UA
Posts: 360
A few years ago, I took a survey which required me to open an Amazon Payments account in order to receive payment. Since then, I haven't used the service. I am hesitant to provide my SSN due to ID theft possibilities. What's the worst that will happen if I don't provide my SSN? Will I still be able to use regular Amazon.com for shopping? I could care less about Amazon Payments since I've only used it once. I don't want to jeopardize my regular Amazon.com account.
I am sure that you don't think you need to provide ssn in order to shop at Amazon.
You Amazon Payments is not the same as your regular Amazon shopping account.
If you don't use Amazon Payments account, why not just send an email to request them close it?
Last edited by echip; Dec 3, 2012 at 11:33 pm Reason: LAX88 beat me to it.
Dec 4, 2012, 3:13 am
#994
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Fairfield County, CT USA
Programs: AA PLT+2MM / DL DM+1MM / A3 *G / Fairmont LT Plat / Ritz Gold / SPG Gold
Posts: 4,077
A few years ago, I took a survey which required me to open an Amazon Payments account in order to receive payment. Since then, I haven't used the service. I am hesitant to provide my SSN due to ID theft possibilities. What's the worst that will happen if I don't provide my SSN? Will I still be able to use regular Amazon.com for shopping? I could care less about Amazon Payments since I've only used it once. I don't want to jeopardize my regular Amazon.com account.
Dec 5, 2012, 7:22 am
#997
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 26
Dec 5, 2012, 7:24 am
#998
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Richmond, VA
Posts: 124
Dec 5, 2012, 9:35 am
#1000
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Michigan
Programs: Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 503
Thanks! I'm going to do exactly this with my Chase SW cards to get much closer to the CP and the additional $10k in spending immediately after Jan. 1st.
Dec 5, 2012, 9:43 am
#1001
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 17,426
my experience
I learned about AP a couple of months ago after I bought the "wrong" Vanilla card (the ones you can't load to Bluebird) and needed a way to "get rid of it." I've since experimented a bit to see what works and what doesn't.
What does seem to work is having my wife send me up to $1000 in gift cards in a calendar month. No problems at all. $500 Vanillas, any other gift card, etc. As long as she doesn't send me more than $1000 in a calendar month, it's fine. She's even sent me gift cards with my own name attached. I've kept the money flowing only one way (wife to me), to avoid the problems other folks have mentioned here.
What hasn't worked so well is setting up AP accounts in my under-18 children's names and trying to send us money, or send money between themselves. They all have SS numbers, and bank accounts in their own names. I've gotten a couple transactions through, but then they've been shut down. Not officially, but when I try to send money from them, I get error messages.
I set up the kids' AP accounts to get around the $1000 monthly limit, but obviously that isn't working (even though some of them already had regular Amazon accounts to take advantage of free Prime offers). And that's OK with me, because unless I'm churning gift cards, $1000 a month is enough to get rid of the random gift cards I wind up with. For instance, Penfed credit cards now pay their cashback in gift cards instead of statement credits. I can dump these gift cards that way. And I've taken advantage of supermarkets giving me free food for buying gift cards (like $60 in store credit if you buy a $500 gift card). $1000 a month takes care of these gift cards. I'd love to have the flexibility to "cash in" more, but this is still a very useful tool.
What does seem to work is having my wife send me up to $1000 in gift cards in a calendar month. No problems at all. $500 Vanillas, any other gift card, etc. As long as she doesn't send me more than $1000 in a calendar month, it's fine. She's even sent me gift cards with my own name attached. I've kept the money flowing only one way (wife to me), to avoid the problems other folks have mentioned here.
What hasn't worked so well is setting up AP accounts in my under-18 children's names and trying to send us money, or send money between themselves. They all have SS numbers, and bank accounts in their own names. I've gotten a couple transactions through, but then they've been shut down. Not officially, but when I try to send money from them, I get error messages.
I set up the kids' AP accounts to get around the $1000 monthly limit, but obviously that isn't working (even though some of them already had regular Amazon accounts to take advantage of free Prime offers). And that's OK with me, because unless I'm churning gift cards, $1000 a month is enough to get rid of the random gift cards I wind up with. For instance, Penfed credit cards now pay their cashback in gift cards instead of statement credits. I can dump these gift cards that way. And I've taken advantage of supermarkets giving me free food for buying gift cards (like $60 in store credit if you buy a $500 gift card). $1000 a month takes care of these gift cards. I'd love to have the flexibility to "cash in" more, but this is still a very useful tool.
Dec 5, 2012, 10:02 am
#1002
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 42
What hasn't worked so well is setting up AP accounts in my under-18 children's names and trying to send us money, or send money between themselves. They all have SS numbers, and bank accounts in their own names. I've gotten a couple transactions through, but then they've been shut down. Not officially, but when I try to send money from them, I get error messages.
I set up the kids' AP accounts to get around the $1000 monthly limit, but obviously that isn't working (even though some of them already had regular Amazon accounts to take advantage of free Prime offers). And that's OK with me, because unless I'm churning gift cards, $1000 a month is enough to get rid of the random gift cards I wind up with. For instance, Penfed credit cards now pay their cashback in gift cards instead of statement credits. I can dump these gift cards that way. And I've taken advantage of supermarkets giving me free food for buying gift cards (like $60 in store credit if you buy a $500 gift card). $1000 a month takes care of these gift cards. I'd love to have the flexibility to "cash in" more, but this is still a very useful tool.
I set up the kids' AP accounts to get around the $1000 monthly limit, but obviously that isn't working (even though some of them already had regular Amazon accounts to take advantage of free Prime offers). And that's OK with me, because unless I'm churning gift cards, $1000 a month is enough to get rid of the random gift cards I wind up with. For instance, Penfed credit cards now pay their cashback in gift cards instead of statement credits. I can dump these gift cards that way. And I've taken advantage of supermarkets giving me free food for buying gift cards (like $60 in store credit if you buy a $500 gift card). $1000 a month takes care of these gift cards. I'd love to have the flexibility to "cash in" more, but this is still a very useful tool.
My wife and my accounts were frozen in the same way, and after a while I decided it couldn't hurt to e-mail them. I told them that sending money abck and forth between us doesn't violate any of the TOS and we use the service to split up different bills, something like that. Since we aren't violating the ToS, why have the accounts been disabled/frozen?
Got a response the next day saying, "ok then" basically. Haven't had a problem since.
Dec 5, 2012, 10:21 am
#1003
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 352
If the accounts are legitimate and they are actual people with real SSN, ie. your children, you could try e-mailing amazon payments customer support.
My wife and my accounts were frozen in the same way, and after a while I decided it couldn't hurt to e-mail them. I told them that sending money abck and forth between us doesn't violate any of the TOS and we use the service to split up different bills, something like that. Since we aren't violating the ToS, why have the accounts been disabled/frozen?
Got a response the next day saying, "ok then" basically. Haven't had a problem since.
My wife and my accounts were frozen in the same way, and after a while I decided it couldn't hurt to e-mail them. I told them that sending money abck and forth between us doesn't violate any of the TOS and we use the service to split up different bills, something like that. Since we aren't violating the ToS, why have the accounts been disabled/frozen?
Got a response the next day saying, "ok then" basically. Haven't had a problem since.
I'm currently only sending one way, easily hit my bonuses that way but hitting 2 of the BA Visa's 20K bonus will be more difficult...
Dec 5, 2012, 10:49 am
#1004
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 17,426
If the accounts are legitimate and they are actual people with real SSN, ie. your children, you could try e-mailing amazon payments customer support.
My wife and my accounts were frozen in the same way, and after a while I decided it couldn't hurt to e-mail them. I told them that sending money abck and forth between us doesn't violate any of the TOS and we use the service to split up different bills, something like that. Since we aren't violating the ToS, why have the accounts been disabled/frozen?
Got a response the next day saying, "ok then" basically. Haven't had a problem since.
My wife and my accounts were frozen in the same way, and after a while I decided it couldn't hurt to e-mail them. I told them that sending money abck and forth between us doesn't violate any of the TOS and we use the service to split up different bills, something like that. Since we aren't violating the ToS, why have the accounts been disabled/frozen?
Got a response the next day saying, "ok then" basically. Haven't had a problem since.
Not sure I want to get Amazon involved in this. At least as long as my and my wife's AP accounts are still working. It would obviously be nice to be able to "move" more gift cards in a month (like I'd go buy some at Office Depot with my Ink card), but we're not talking big money. The $1000 I get from moving gift cards from my wife's AP account to my bank account takes care of our "regular" needs.
Dec 5, 2012, 12:12 pm
#1005
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: LAS
Programs: DL PM, UA PS, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 4,904