Prepaid cards are a valid payment method and are one of the most effective ways to limit unnecessary spending. If you do most of your shopping on Amazon, you may wonder if you can pay using a prepaid card. So, does Amazon accept prepaid cards?
Does Amazon Accept Prepaid Cards?
Amazon accepts various prepaid cards, including Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo, and others, as payment options. You can use credit cards to make payments on the Amazon mobile app or the company’s official website. However, using prepaid cards on Amazon comes with some limitations.
If you want to use credit cards to make payments on Amazon, you need to know what types of prepaid cards Amazon will accept and how to use the prepaid card option on Amazon. To learn more about these restrictions, read this article to the end.
Does Amazon Accept Prepaid Visa Cards?
Amazon accepts prepaid Visa cards. Amazon’s official credit card partner is Prepaid Visa, so it only makes sense that Amazon will accept prepaid Visa cards. Amazon also offers the Amazon Rewards Visa Signature Card in addition to taking prepaid Visa cards.
You can purchase anything from Amazon with a Prepaid Visa card. But before adding the card to your Amazon wallet and using it to complete orders, you need to verify the card information, including the card number and expiration month and year.
Does Amazon Accept Prepaid Mastercard?
Amazon accepts prepaid Mastercards as a payment method. You must sign into your account and add the prepaid card under your payment options before you can use it on Amazon.
You can add and save the card number and expiration date on your account, so it’s easy to use the information for purchases even if you’re not with the card.
When you’re ready to check out, choose the prepaid Mastercard as your form of payment to finish your transaction. With a few exceptions, Amazon processes these cards in the same manner as they do regular Mastercards.
While Amazon accepts prepaid Mastercards, you cannot simultaneously use a credit card and a prepaid card on Amazon.com.
But can you use a Vanilla Prepaid Mastercard on Amazon? No, you cannot use a Vanilla Prepaid Mastercard on Amazon. Usually, you have to turn your Vanilla prepaid balance into Amazon funds before using it.
Does Amazon Accept Prepaid American Express Cards?
In addition to the usual payment options, such as credit and debit cards, Amazon also accepts AmEx prepaid cards. So, Amazon accepts three main prepaid cards from credit card issuers: Visa, Mastercard, and American Express.
All you need to do is link your prepaid card to your Amazon account. With this, you can make payments for any of the thousands of products available in each category.
Additionally, because Amazon accepts American Express as a mode of payment, there are no restrictions on what you can purchase using a prepaid AmEx card.
How to Use a Prepaid Visa Card on Amazon
To use a Prepaid Visa card in your Amazon account, you have to link the card to the account. Simply follow these easy steps to do that.
- Step 1: Use your login information to access your Amazon account. Type “e-gifts” into the search box and press Enter.
- Step 2: Choose the e-gift card’s denomination. Type in the card’s number, expiration date, and name. Now the card’s information is saved to your account.
- Step 3: When choosing a payment option, select Prepaid card and continue to checkout.
Amazon will send you the e-gift card to your registered email. Simply click the link in that email to add your e-gift card to your Amazon account to start using it.
If you have enough credit on your prepaid card, you’ll be able to place your order successfully. The method to add your prepaid card is the same for all prepaid card types. You don’t have to save your card information on the website if you don’t want to.
Amazon Restrictions on Prepaid Cards
Overall, Amazon simplifies using prepaid cards to pay for millions of products online. However, there are a few constraints you need to be aware of.
For example, you cannot enter the three-digit CVV code on the back of prepaid Visa, Mastercard, and American Express cards. So, your payment could fail to process if the sending bank requests the code.
Another prepaid card restriction is that you cannot use both prepaid and credit cards simultaneously or in the same way. So be sure to adjust your card to suit your purchase.
Additionally, some banks demand that prepaid cards be registered with the cardholder’s name and billing address. So, you may be unable to use another person’s card in this case.
There is also a $1 authorization fee to ensure that your payment method is legitimate. Although the authorization is not a charge, some banks keep the cash unavailable until the authorization expires. In other words, until your first payment on Amazon completes, a dollar may not be available for spending if your prepaid card is tied to a specific bank.
Does AWS Accept Prepaid Cards?
AWS accepts prepaid cards as one of the payment methods. Amazon is one of the tech behemoths that accepts various payment methods for transactions.
So, AWS accepts prepaid cards, including prepaid American Express, prepaid Mastercard, and prepaid Visa cards. However, AWS does not accept payments from Discover prepaid cards.
Can I Use a Prepaid Debit Gift Card on Amazon?
You can use a prepaid debit gift card on Amazon. Amazon allows you to purchase items with a prepaid Visa gift card.
However, you may have to get around the system to do so. For example, you must match the price of your purchases to the balance on your gift card because Amazon does not permit split payments between gift cards placed onto an account and other payment methods.
Can Prepaid Discover Cards Be Used On Amazon?
Discover is the only American credit card issuer that Amazon does not accept. So, you cannot use Prepaid Discover cards on Amazon. However, you may be able to use a Discover credit card as your principal payment method for purchases on other e-commerce sites.
Prepaid Discover cards will appear on the official Amazon policy list of accepted payment methods once the company adjusts its policies to accept them.
Conclusion
Amazon supports prepaid cards as payment methods for purchases on their official website and mobile application. They mainly accept Visa, Mastercard, and American Express prepaid cards. Some restrictions exist on using prepaid cards on Amazon, and while Amazon accepts Discover debit and credit cards, it does not accept Discover Prepaid cards.
