Don’t update credit card and banking details in Amazon unless you contact AMZ first
By: Lesley Hensell
The change seemed so harmless and simple. Patti recently switched banks for her business account to get a better deal. But when she went to update the credit card and banking details in her Amazon seller account, it was suspended almost instantly.
“I was stunned,” she said on our recent phone call. “There was no fraud. This account has a long history, and our company name is on the new bank account. Why would Amazon suspend our seller account instead of sending us an email or calling us?”
Examples:
Unfortunately, this scenario plays out in the Amazon seller community almost every day:
- A seller changes the company details in their account – bank account, credit card, address, corporate entity name, etc.
- The account is suspended.
- The seller spends days, weeks or even months convincing Amazon that they are who they say they are, and they were not doing anything wrong. In reality, they simply updated the credit card and banking details in Amazon.
Why does this happen?
While we can’t read Amazon’s mind, we can make some highly educated guesses:
- The change could kick off a fraud review at Amazon. They must continually watch for theft, money-laundering and a host of other financial sins.
- Amazon is beholden to federal rules around the Office of Foreign Assets Control. For that reason they require extra scrutiny.
- Amazon cares about risk management. And this is a risk. Period.
What’s a seller to do?
It’s pretty simple:
- Before you make any changes, send an email to seller-performance@amazon.com
- Make them aware of what changes you are making to your account information – and, of course, why.
- Wait for a reply email. It should either ask for more details, or more likely it will say something like, “Thank you for complying with our policies.”
- Then you are safe to make the changes in your account.
Finally, if you are suspended for making these changes in your account, it can be challenging to be re-opened. We have used many successful strategies that include sending supporting corporate documents and escalating to key executives. If you have questions or need help, contact Riverbend Consulting today. Contact us.
Lesley is Partner at Riverbend Consulting, she offers practical know-how to improve retail performance. Lesley’s experience with Amazon compliance gets accounts back up fast.