Amazon expands Prime settlement payouts
Amazon has begun issuing automatic payments to more eligible consumers under a $2.5 billion settlement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), with no claim or paperwork required, Qazinform News Agency reports, citing the FTC.
Under the September 2025 settlement, Amazon was required to provide up to $1.5 billion in consumer redress in addition to a $1 billion civil penalty. The settlement resolved FTC allegations that Amazon enrolled millions of consumers in Prime subscriptions without their consent and made it difficult for them to cancel.
As of September 2026, Amazon had issued more than $845 million in refunds. A federal court has since approved measures to accelerate and expand the remaining payments.
Starting October 1, Amazon began issuing automatic payments to additional eligible consumers who used between 11 and 20 Prime benefits during a one-year period. These consumers were not included in the earlier redress payment phases.
Eligible customers do not need to file a claim, respond to a notice or complete any forms. Payments are being sent electronically through PayPal or Venmo, or by mailed check.
Under the revised order, consumers who have already received a payment may qualify for an additional payment of up to $149, bringing their total refund to a maximum of $200. If consumer-accepted payments do not reach the required threshold by February 2027, the additional round of payments is scheduled to begin by April 2027.
The FTC says eligible consumers generally must be U.S. Prime customers who signed up through certain challenged enrollment flows or unsuccessfully attempted to cancel their subscriptions between June 23, 2019 and June 23, 2025, and used no more than 20 Prime benefits during any 12-month period. Eligible consumers will receive their refunds by April 2027.
The FTC warned that it is not contacting consumers about the refunds and that no one from Amazon will ask them for money to receive a refund.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that Amazon Web Services (AWS) had opposed the possible extension of the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) to cloud services, arguing that such a move could undermine the region’s competitiveness, investment climate and development of artificial intelligence technologies.
