What Does An Amazon 'PMTS' Charge Mean On Your Prime Account?

Regularly reviewing your bank and credit card statements is important. Not only does it help you understand your finances better, keeping you aware of your income and expenditures and helping you budget properly, but it can also help you identify financial discrepancies. Keeping an eye out for transactions or charges you don't recognize can help you detect fraud early.

It's particularly important to monitor your transactions if you have an online shopping account with a retailer like Amazon because, if your debit or credit card is linked to that account and the account is hacked, the bad actor might be able to make unauthorized purchases using your card. I have personal experience of this: My Amazon account was compromised, and the hacker used my debit card to purchase several Amazon gift cards that they then sent to themselves. Fortunately, I identified the issue quickly, and it was resolved, but I've been vigilant ever since.

But while it's crucial to watch out for unexpected Amazon charges, it's also important to be able to identify what certain charges are, so that you can determine if they're legit or not. Amazon uses various billing descriptors on bank and credit card statements, and while the names for some of these charges are obvious (e.g., Amazon Bookstore), others are less obvious. The Amazon PMTS charge on your Prime account can be one of these more confusing descriptors, but it's really only worth worrying about in certain cases. Below, we break down what an Amazon PMTS charge on your account means.

The PMTS billing descriptor from Amazon can appear in various forms on your credit or bank statement, including amazn pmts (checkout), amzn.com/pmts, and Amazon Prime PMTS. Amazon PMTS charges are related to orders and transactions made with Amazon Pay, Amazon's online payments processing service that allows you to pay for goods and services on Amazon, but also to use the payment methods already associated with your Amazon account to pay for goods or services on compatible third-party websites and apps.

As such, a PMTS charge on your account often correlates to an Amazon transaction you've made through Amazon Pay. For example, users report seeing this charge when billed for their Amazon Prime subscription (which includes perks like Amazon Music and Amazon Luna), their monthly Prime Video Membership, their monthly Alexa+ membership (if a non-Prime membership), books, games, and more. The appearance of the vague charge can be especially jarring if it shows up because you forgot to cancel your membership after the free Amazon Prime trial period.

It's worth remembering that this charge can also appear if you pay for goods and services on a third-party site or app using Amazon Pay. Some of the online stores that support Amazon Pay include Samsung, Belkin, NutriBullet, Kurt Geiger, and Grubhub, so if you haven't bought something on Amazon, you may have bought something on a featured Amazon Pay store.

If you see the PMTS charge on your Prime account and cannot identify its origin, the first thing to do is search your Transactions history for the relevant transaction. In addition, you can go to the Your Memberships & Subscriptions page to verify whether the charge is related to a Prime or Prime Video subscription renewal, or a Prime Video channel add-on (like Shudder). Amazon warns that if you signed up for a free Prime trial and a separate Prime Video add-on subscription at the same time, the monthly charges for both may fall on different dates. So, it's worth confirming your Prime subscription renewal dates under Manage Prime.

Also check your Amazon Pay transactions by signing into Amazon Pay using your Amazon credentials. Under Activity, you'll find all Amazon Pay one-time purchases, while any subscription agreements will be viewable under the Merchant agreements tab.

By following these methods, you should be able to identify what the PMTS charge was related to. However, if you find a corresponding Amazon transaction but cannot identify where it originated (make sure to check to see if it was a family member or a friend with access to your Amazon Pay), you can file a claim, report fraud, or report an acceptable use policy violation with Amazon. To do this, find the transaction under Amazon Pay's Activity menu, click Details & Support, and select the relevant option from the dropdown menu. However, if you find the rogue transaction under the Merchant agreements tab, you need to go to Your Account and select Contact Us.