Amazon Pay Reserve Policy
Note: The following policy applies to merchants using Amazon Pay. For merchants using Selling on Amazon, see Payments FAQ.
Amazon Pay may require a reserve to ensure that your merchant account maintains a healthy balance. Reserves are used to manage the financial liability created from transactions from your customers, including chargebacks, refunds to buyers and Amazon Pay A-to-z Guarantee claims.
Amazon Pay standard reserve types and classifications
Reserve types
Amazon Pay uses the following reserve types singularly or in combination.
- Rolling reserve: is a percentage of a merchant's sales that Amazon Pay holds in reserve. The funds in the reserve account are used to cover the cost of chargebacks and Amazon Pay A-to-z Guarantee claims.
- Minimum reserve: is a specific minimum amount of money Amazon Pay holds in your reserve balance.
Reserve classifications
- Account level reserve: is placed on all accounts, regardless of their performance. The amount of the account level reserve is based on a number of factors, including your business, and your processing history.
- Performance reserve: is placed on accounts that have a history of disputes or refunds. The amount of the performance reserve is based on the severity of the issues that have occurred on your account.
- Dispute reserve: is placed on accounts that are involved in a dispute. The amount of the dispute reserve is based on the amount of the dispute.
Amazon Pay default reserve tiers
The Amazon Pay default reserve tiers consist of Reserve Tier I and Reserve Tier II. For more details regarding the specifics of each tier and the criteria for progression between them, refer to the following information.
Reserve Tier I
After you’ve completed registration and start transacting, you’re placed in Reserve Tier I. For Reserve Tier I, Amazon Pay holds 100% of the funds received for processed transactions in reserve for 7 days, or the amount of any unresolved transaction disputes (chargebacks and Amazon Pay A-to-z Guarantee claims), whichever is greater.
Reserve Tier II
After 3 months of using Amazon Pay with a minimum of 100 orders, you're upgraded to the Tier II Reserve. The Reserve Tier II Reserve is either your payments processed daily averaged over 30 days multiplied with your Order Defect Rate or the total amount of unresolved disputes (chargebacks and Amazon Pay A-to-z Guarantee claims), whichever is greater.
Requesting early upgrade to Reserve Tier II with Amazon Pay
Your Amazon Payments merchant account might be eligible for an upgrade to Reserve Tier II if you have a minimum of 100 completed orders, and have maintained an Order Defect Rate (ODR) below 1%. You can review your ODR information in Seller Central.
To request consideration for an upgrade to Reserve Tier II, contact Amazon Pay merchant support.
In your request, include the following information:
- your Merchant ID;
- your business website URL;
- your reason for requesting the upgrade to Reserve Tier II.
Note: Amazon Pay will review an account for Reserve Tier II upgrade consideration no more than once every six months.
Summary of Tier definitions
Reserve amount |
Eligibility | |
Tier I |
Whichever is greater: 100% of the payments processed over the past 7 days or The value of all unresolved transaction disputes | You are a new Amazon Pay merchant. |
Tier II |
Whichever is greater: The amount of your payments processed daily averaged over the past 30 days, multiplied with your Order Defect rate or The value of all unresolved transaction disputes |
You’ve been an active Amazon Pay merchant for the prior 3 months and have a minimum of 100 completed orders |
How Amazon Pay determines a reserve
A reserve can be placed on your account for a number of reasons (for example, to protect the account from having a negative balance) and is set on a case-by-case basis. Amazon Pay continuously monitors your business performance based on different factors which might include:
- your processing history with Amazon Pay;
- whether your business has a higher likelihood of chargebacks or refunds;
- whether your account has an elevated number of customer claims and disputes;
- your business and personal credit worthiness;
- whether you’re selling products or services in advance (preselling orders);
- whether your business has extended delivery timeframes.
When will Amazon Pay disburse funds to my bank account?
To disburse funds from Amazon Pay, you must associate a bank account with your Seller Central account. When you change bank account details, we'll temporarily hold disbursements for 3 days starting from the date the change was made. For more information, see Adding and managing a bank account.
The timing of when you will receive your money depends on the type of reserve you have. After a reserve is placed, you’ll receive a communication outlining details of your reserve.
If you have a rolling reserve, Amazon Pay will release funds after a certain period of time. For example, if you have a 7-day rolling reserve, funds from Day 1 sales will be available on Day 8. For more information, see Settlement reports.
Amazon Pay reviews reserves periodically. If your business performance improves, Amazon Pay might adjust or remove the reserve.
See also
Customer Service best practice tips