How do you get a US checking account for Amazon?

I am based in Australia and I am able to register as a seller on Amazon, but not able to get the payments transferred over to me because I do not have a US/UK checking account. Has anyone found it easy to get a US/UK checking account? or another method in receiving your payments?

I tried contacting Amazon by email but this didn't really help very much.

Please help! Thanks!

Hi sales-v,

Based on a recent post made by Frank aka fm123 you will need the following to open a US bank account -

You need the EIN/TIN for banking purposes, and a DUNS for credit -- just to be clear, you generally will find it difficult to establish a DUNS without the TIN, and will find it impossible to open a bank account without a TIN.

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There are actually a number of guides and sites offering services to help you open a US checking account but since i have not used any myself or read of any positive recommendations it's difficult to say go to this site or to the other one.

But one of the best suggestions I read while I was searching for information, is that you contact the bank directly once you have selected which bank you may want to bank with. This way you can ask and find out what their requirements are and if you can open a bank (checking) account with them being an Australian.

I have also, tried searching for any possible answers on Amazon as to how you may receive payments, but like you said they will only transfer to a bank in the US, UK, France, Germany or Austria.

I have also read on other forums that some Australians will ask their customers to pay them directly, but I would not recommend this though. Others have avoided Amazon altogether because they found the payment reimbursement process to be too complicated.

Hope this helps somehow :)

Hi richellemonfort,

I managed to enter my bank account details with Amazon.
I contacted my existing bank here in Aust and they said as long as the Australian banks are operating in the States or have branches in the States, they will be able to accept transfers from any country in any currency.

I have ANZ as my primary bank and I contacted them and they were really helpful. They provided me with the Fed Code or 9-digit US Bank routing number and all you had to do was key this in and your bank account number into the Amazon seller account under edit deposit details. And voila! - deposits from Amazon go directly to your existing bank account.

Hope this would help other buyers too.

That's great news, sales-v! And thanks for sharing it with us :)

It will certainly help other members who are planning on selling on Amazon.

All the best!

This thread merits a sticky in my opinion. In the referenced post it had not occurred to me that foreign banks which have US correspondent accounts (which is, really, most of them who are of any size) can provide accountholders with information they need to confirm for stuff like Amazon seller accounts. Not all will, but being that it's the free and simple solution, it certainly can't hurt to ask.


Frank

This thread is now a sticky :) Cheers!

Hi all, Yeah I contacted my bank again and initially I was able to set up the payments to be transferred from Amazon to the Aust bank account, but when contacting Amazon you can't actually do that.

Instead, Amazon has adviced a cheque be sent out to me instead for the sales I've done.

So in the end, really can't use Aust bank accounts for Amazon at all. =(

Did Amazon give you a reason? I'd be interested in their rationale, if they stated one.


Frank

Did Amazon give you a reason? I'd be interested in their rationale, if they stated one.


Frank

Hi Frank,

They just wrote me this email: (see below). Hope this helps you and everyone else enquiring...

Thank you for contacting Amazon.com Seller Support.

To receive funds through Marketplace Payments by Amazon for sales on Amazon.com, you must enter a US checking account or a UK, French, German or Austrian bank account into your Amazon.com Seller Account. Amazon Currency Converterâ„¢ for Sellers allows sellers with bank accounts in the UK, France, Germany and Austria to be paid in their local currency (British Pounds or Euros). For more information, please see the following Help page:

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We require all sellers on Amazon.com to have a US checking account or a bank account located in the UK, France, Germany, or Austria to receive payment through our Marketplace Payments by Amazon system.

If you are unable to provide such an account, please notify us by replying to this message, and we will close your seller account.

Please note, in case you are unable to provide a checking account information, we will issue a one time manual check to you but we will have to close your account to do this. I have checked your account and I see that you have received your last order on Aug 20, 2011. Please note, for requesting for a check you will have to wait for 90 days from the date of order received. So you will have to wait for 90 days from Aug 20, 2011 and write back to us after 90 days for a check request.

If you will be requesting a check, be sure to include your address when you respond. Before issuing a check, we will close the seller portion of your account.

Note this important condition: Before we can close your account and issue a check, you must first close any open Amazon Marketplace listings. You can close listings from your seller account. Click the "View Your Current Inventory" link and then check the "close listing" box for each item. Once you have selected all of the listings you want to close, click the "Save Changes" button.

A one-time check will be sent to you for the funds in your seller account.

If you do not to wait for 90 days or do not want to close your account, you will have to provide a checking account information.

Thank you for your understanding.

Best regards,

Amazon.com Seller Support

USA Based US$ Account For Canadian Sellers:

If you have this issue as it would also be with Google Checkout which does not accept Canadian bank accounts, here is the solution I found:

The Royal Bank of Canada has an account system called Royal Access. It gives you an account that is actually based in the USA. When monies are deposited there, those monies can then be transferred to your Royal Bank Canadian based US$ account.

All the other banks have US$ accounts, but it is not the same thing, as they are all still based in Canada. The Royal is the only one that offers this.

With the Canadian based US$ accounts, you cannot, for example, transfer monies from your Paypal account to your Canadian based US$ account. The Royal Access account eliminates these issues.

May help someone.

Hi Bizhope,

Thanks for sharing this with us! It surely will be helpful to someone in need of a US checking account for Amazon!

Cheers :)

Canadians can ALSO deal with TD Bank N.A. though TD Canada Trust using there "Borderless Plan". Can also get a US dollar Visa too.

Hello and welcome to SaleHoo, jfilz :)

Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us! Many will find it helpful...

Hope to see more of you on the forums!

Hello, can charge through Amazon payments and service Payoneer virtual account payments partner like Amazon. To do this simply enter Link hidden: Login to view here and ask your card.

Once they pass the card, communicate with support and request your account in U.S.

Yes I agree Payoneer is your best option, try and get a Business Partner Account.
You should be good to go.

Welcome to SaleHoo, mnmerxwell :) Thanks for helping out!

Hope to see more of you in the forum!

you can also get a us bank account from payoneer they will issue you with the free debit master card aswell which you can use to get cash out and pay for stuff from atms and via credit card

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