A Tamebay reader shared the story of how they got their accounts suspended simply for trying to save on their currency exchanges.
They told us that Western Union approached them about using them to receive and convert Amazon payments. The hook was a better rate than some of the other currency transfer services.
For those that aren’t aware, if you sell on Amazon sites in Europe, buyers will pay you in Euros and Amazon will convert the Euros back into Sterling to pay into your UK bank account. However a number of companies (you’ll find currency transfer providers in the Tamebay Guide) offer virtual bank accounts in Europe to enable you to have your Euro Amazon disbursements paid into. They’ll then offer you a better exchange rate than Amazon’s internal rate to convert your Euros back into Pounds.
Our reader decied to test the Western Union service on Amazon Italy. However as soon as he had submitted the Western Union bank details, Amazon locked their account. It would appear from this says our reader that Amazon assume that all Western Union accounts are scammers and that their Amazon account had deemed to have been hacked.
If you’re considering using a currency transfer service to save money, make sure you pick one that has a known history of successfully working with Amazon retailers. Our reader is now in the unenviable position of having temporarily lost his Amazon revenues and has had to write an explanation how they are going to “improve security on my account” in an attempt to get it restored.
10 Responses
More likely the bank account details had been associated with a previously suspended Amazon account which triggered instant suspension.
I have always used Currencies Direct. They are preferred by Amazon and offer a good rate and service. They also have an App now, which i used to withdraw money with a couple of weeks ago whilst on holiday in Italy.
https://www.currenciesdirect.com/en/online-sellers?afflno=A014737&assetid=0000108
So it is just Western Union? (why they are still going I will never understand)
Any changes to your account on Amazon result in you having to go through verification again, Is this not well known?
The same happened with me with Currencies Direct… it took 6days to get the accounts back online and in that time I had to confirm a LOT of details.
I was treated like a complete conman, which is disappointing since we have sold £10-15m via Amazon.co.uk over the years…
I too changed bank details recently with Currencies Direct (to Deutsche Bank) and Amazon put a hold on funds for 24 hours I think. It appears they Amazon are a lot better with preferred Forex Companies than others.
Amazon, will intermittently attempt to halt you using a money transfer business of your own choice if the seller account name on your Amazon account is not the same as your trading name.
However, even if the account becomes temporarily suspended you can change the details back to what they originally were and still receive the payments.
For many companies opening a foreign Currency account in France , Germany or Italy is almost impossible and very expensive.
The fact remains that you can save money choosing a partner of your choice and Amazon are unable to stop you having the funds remitted to a EUR / USD account of your choice.
American Express International Payments offers a service to set you up with a Euro receiving IBAN account that works and the added benefit here is they offer membership reward points alongside the enhanced currency exchanges.
This is exactly why we’re sticking to WorldFirst, been using them for nearly 2 years now and they’re a lot more focused on ecommerce businesses. I remember them providing a verification letter for Seller Central to ensure the above doesn’t happen.
We’ve been approached by a number of companies since claiming to be able to plug in to Amazon but after some probing it’s clear they have little knowledge about online marketplaces.
I may contribute to the discussion by presenting the comparison we have made between the leading providers (those who supply overseas collection accounts on top of money transfer services). I hope you would find it useful. I am also registered with TameBay and you can find my site on the directory.
Here you go:
https://moneytransfercomparison.com/merchants/