Amazon to refund $2.5 billion in Prime settlement
Amazon plans to refund millions of dollars after settling an FTC lawsuit over Prime membership and cancellation issues.
The window is now open for eligible Amazon customers to file a $2.5 billion settlement with the company and the Federal Trade Commission.
This claims process will be the second wave of payments in the settlement. In the first wave, eligible customers received automatic payments from November 12 to December 24, 2025.
In September 2025, Amazon agreed to settle an antitrust lawsuit filed in 2023 with the FTC. The lawsuit alleges that Amazon forced millions of consumers to sign up for Prime subscriptions and then made it extremely difficult to cancel those contracts.
Amazon denies wrongdoing and says it “always follows the law.”
“We are working extremely hard to make it clear and easy for customers to both sign up for and cancel their Prime membership, and to deliver real value to our millions of loyal Prime members around the world,” the statement added. “We intend to continue to do so and look forward to what we can offer Prime members in the coming years.”
How to bill with Amazon payment
Amazon has two payment stages. The current second phase requires customers to submit a claim to receive payment.
Only eligible Amazon customers who have redeemed their Prime benefits 10 times or fewer during a 12-month enrollment period may file a claim at this stage.
Those eligible to file a claim will receive a notification via email or mail with instructions on how to submit a claim form, the payments website said. You have 180 days to file your claim and will note it in your notice.
Who is eligible to receive money from Amazon payments?
According to the court order in the case, Amazon customers are only eligible to receive the settlement if they meet both of the following criteria:
- Registration date: Customers must have signed up for Prime between June 23, 2019 and June 23, 2025.
- I’ll try canceling: Customers are only eligible to receive payments if they unsuccessfully try to cancel their Prime subscription, or if they sign up for Prime through what the documents call an “enrollment claims flow.”
A “dispute” flow means a subscription initiated through a specific page on the Amazon website, such as the “universal Prime decision page, shipping option selection page, Prime Video registration flow, or single-page checkout,” according to the court order.
When will I receive my payment from Amazon?
The automatic payments were issued as part of the first wave of payments and took place between November 12 and December 24, 2025.
The filing deadline for the second wave of claims payments will begin on January 5th and will last for 180 days until July 23rd.
Amazon has 30 days from the time we receive each claim form to review it. According to the payment website, payments will be made as soon as the claim form is approved.
How much money can Amazon customers earn from payments?
Customers can receive up to $51 in settlement funds.
The amount each customer will receive from the settlement will be based on the total amount of Amazon Prime membership fees paid during the subscription period.
The first round of payments using Amazon Payments has already ended.
The first wave of payments was distributed automatically, so customers did not need to submit claims. These automatic payments were sent at the end of 2025.
Automatic payments were possible through Venmo or PayPal. According to the FTC, if a customer does not accept automatic payments through PayPal or Venmo within 15 days, Amazon will mail a check to the shipping address listed on their Prime subscription.
In that wave, only Amazon customers who redeemed their Prime benefits three or fewer times during a 12-month enrollment period received automatic payments.
Melina Khan is USA TODAY’s national trends reporter. Contact her at melina.khan@usatoday.com.
