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 17, 2012 | 5:25 am
#1096
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 13
Does anyone else have any problems even sending a payment? I created an account a couple days ago, but each time I try to send a trial payment I get the message:
Important Message:
An error occurred when we tried to process your request.
Has this happened to other people? I live outside the US, would that make a difference? I'm hoping to churn a couple CCs soon but really need AP to help me hit the spends on them.
Important Message:
An error occurred when we tried to process your request.
Has this happened to other people? I live outside the US, would that make a difference? I'm hoping to churn a couple CCs soon but really need AP to help me hit the spends on them.
Dec 17, 2012 | 7:29 am
#1097
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Land of the parrots and parrotheads
Programs: Several dozen
Posts: 4,820
Dec 17, 2012 | 7:33 am
#1098
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Land of the parrots and parrotheads
Programs: Several dozen
Posts: 4,820
Dec 17, 2012 | 8:02 am
#1099
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan
Programs: Airline Free Agent, Fairmont Lifetime Platinum, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Honors Diamond
Posts: 3,064
>>>>>>Leave that game to the Mossad and CIA folk.
Rumor has it that they monitor this board for "suspicious" activity. No smiley inserted here;-)
Rumor has it that they monitor this board for "suspicious" activity. No smiley inserted here;-)
Dec 21, 2012 | 6:09 pm
#1100
Join Date: May 2010
Programs: UA MileagePlus
Posts: 140
Does anyone else have any problems even sending a payment? I created an account a couple days ago, but each time I try to send a trial payment I get the message:
Important Message:
An error occurred when we tried to process your request.
Has this happened to other people? I live outside the US, would that make a difference? I'm hoping to churn a couple CCs soon but really need AP to help me hit the spends on them.
Important Message:
An error occurred when we tried to process your request.
Has this happened to other people? I live outside the US, would that make a difference? I'm hoping to churn a couple CCs soon but really need AP to help me hit the spends on them.
And that's about as much as I'm going to say on this issue...
Dec 21, 2012 | 7:23 pm
#1101
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Las Vegas since 11/2023
Programs: No status anywhere anymore, it was fun while it lasted
Posts: 4,648
Dec 21, 2012 | 8:13 pm
#1102
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: RDU
Programs: A few
Posts: 5,506
Dec 22, 2012 | 2:31 pm
#1103
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Land of the parrots and parrotheads
Programs: Several dozen
Posts: 4,820
Dec 22, 2012 | 2:44 pm
#1104
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Land of the parrots and parrotheads
Programs: Several dozen
Posts: 4,820
Indeed - my evil twin now walks the jungle along the river. 
Dec 23, 2012 | 7:06 pm
#1105
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 6
Is this legal?
Can you fund a shell company using revolving credit.
For example, set up a shell company/LLC. Instead of transferring cash into Owner's equity/assets of said shell company, I would use credit cards to fund it such as sending the shell company payments through amazon as purchases or getting revolving credit loans from banks/P2P lending sites. Once the money transfer goes through, the purchase shows up on the credit cards (to reach max spend for miles) and I would then dissolve the shell company, take the assets back and pay off the credit card bills/loans.
I know this is border line purchasing fraud, but in the end the credit card company gets paid back- every one gets paid back except I get the x amount of miles. Thus, no fraud because nothing was stolen (unless I am overlooking some precedence on miles theft).
Again, is there a legal way to use a shell company/LLc to reach not only spending requirements but maximum amount of miles reached (depending on how big your revolving credit limit is)?
For example, set up a shell company/LLC. Instead of transferring cash into Owner's equity/assets of said shell company, I would use credit cards to fund it such as sending the shell company payments through amazon as purchases or getting revolving credit loans from banks/P2P lending sites. Once the money transfer goes through, the purchase shows up on the credit cards (to reach max spend for miles) and I would then dissolve the shell company, take the assets back and pay off the credit card bills/loans.
I know this is border line purchasing fraud, but in the end the credit card company gets paid back- every one gets paid back except I get the x amount of miles. Thus, no fraud because nothing was stolen (unless I am overlooking some precedence on miles theft).
Again, is there a legal way to use a shell company/LLc to reach not only spending requirements but maximum amount of miles reached (depending on how big your revolving credit limit is)?
Dec 23, 2012 | 9:27 pm
#1108
Join Date: Jun 1999
Location: NYC/LA
Programs: DL DM, UA Silver, Marriott Titanium/LTP, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 9,811
As far as your credit cards are concerned, funding a shell co would be no different than sending money to a friend. The issue would be less with the mechanics of the shell co than how you would get the funds from your ccs to the co, and how to avoid paying the 2-4% fee. It's unlikely you'll be able to do it in a way that will make the rewards worthwhile.
