If you had Amazon Prime between 2019 and 2025, there is money you may be sent without asking for it, and a deadline for accepting it.
On September 17 the FTC said a federal court had approved changes to the settlement Amazon agreed in September 2025 over how it signed people up for Prime and how hard it made cancelling. From the release: "the maximum payment cap has been raised from $51 to $200 total, and all future payments will be distributed automatically".
Who qualifies
From the FTC's refunds page, you are eligible if all three are true:
- You are a U.S. Amazon Prime customer.
- Between June 23, 2019 and June 23, 2025, you either signed up through one of the enrollment screens the FTC challenged or tried to cancel online and could not.
- You used no more than 20 Prime benefits in any 12-month period after signing up.
The four challenged sign-up routes are the Prime decision page, the shipping selection page, single-page checkout, and the Prime Video sign-up flow.
The first round was limited to people who used fewer than 10 benefits a year. The change reaches "millions of additional consumers who used between 11 and 20 Prime benefits during a one-year period," according to the release.
What happens, and when
| When | What |
|---|---|
| Since November 2025 | Amazon has paid more than $845 million in refunds of up to $51 |
| From October 1, 2026 | Automatic payments to the newly eligible group, by Venmo, PayPal or mailed check |
| February 2027 | If not enough payments have been accepted by then, a top-up round is triggered |
| By April 2027 | The top-up round: "consumers who have accepted payments will be eligible to receive an additional $149, for a total of $200." |
The part that can cost you money
Payments expire. "Payments expire 60 days after the issue date. Please accept your payment on time." A PayPal or Venmo payment you ignore, or a check left in a drawer, is money you lose.
Scams. The FTC is explicit: "The FTC is not contacting people about refunds in the Amazon matter. If someone contacts you and claims to be with the FTC, it is likely a scam." Amazon runs the program, and no one from it will ask you for money to get a refund. Nobody can get you "special access or a guaranteed refund." Report attempts at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
The administrator's contacts, as the FTC lists them: admin@SubscriptionMembershipSettlement.com and 1-888-999-8094.
What the FTC has not said
- The threshold. Whether the extra $149 is paid depends on accepted payments reaching a "required threshold" by February 2027. The release does not say what that threshold is.
- How much the new group gets each. The cap is $200 in total. There is no per-person figure for the October round and no total for it.
- Which court, and when. The release says the approval came "this week" without naming the court, the judge or the date.
The settlement itself was $2.5 billion: up to $1.5 billion in refunds and a $1 billion civil penalty.