Amazon's Payment Service Provider Programme

In brief: many sellers receive Amazon payouts through a payment service provider (PSP) — a service such as Payoneer or WorldFirst that issues an account in the marketplace's currency — instead of a normal bank. In February 2021 Amazon launched a Payment Service Provider programme to fight fraud: sellers using a PSP had to use one taking part in the programme. Sellers with a bank account issued directly by a bank didn't need to do anything. New PSP accounts added from 1 March 2021 had to be from a participating PSP; from 31 May 2021 non-participating PSPs meant payouts held for as long as 21 days beyond the latest estimated delivery date; and from 15 July 2021 Amazon stopped paying out to them altogether.

Amazon payment service provider timeline

Date	What happened
1 February 2021	Programme launched (LianLian Pay, Payoneer, PingPong and WorldFirst among the first participants)
1 March 2021	New PSP bank accounts must be from a participating PSP
31 May 2021	Non-participating PSPs: funds held up to 21 days past latest estimated delivery
15 July 2021	Disbursements to non-participating PSPs stopped

The Amazon Currency Converter for Sellers could still pay into a bank or participating PSP.

A worked example

A seller turns over £40,000 a month and still used a non-participating PSP in June 2021. With funds held up to 21 days beyond estimated delivery, roughly three to four weeks of sales — around £30,000 — could be held back at any one time, instead of being paid out. From 15 July, nothing was paid out at all until they switched.

What it means for your bookkeeping

• Reserves are still your money. Held funds are income earned but not yet paid; your books should show them as owed by Amazon, not lost.

• Payout accounts matter. The account a settlement is paid into should match the bank account in your accounting system, including PSP accounts in other currencies.

• Changing provider changes reconciliation. When moving PSP, update the bank account each settlement is matched against.

• Reconcile to the deposit. Held or delayed payouts are a common reason a payout doesn't match Xero — see also reconciling an Amazon settlement.

How TrueBooks helps

TrueBooks posts each settlement to Xero so it matches the actual bank deposit, and handles reserves and negative settlements, so held or delayed payouts are easy to follow. See the Amazon Xero integration.