Having a US issued bank card for internet purchases

beeza

beeza

Silver
Nov 2, 2006
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I have recently come across an issue with Amazon where I cannot transfer my UK based music account to the US based one because I don't have a US issued bank card.

Although I'm a prime member they accept my UK bank debit card for purchases, kindle purchases and video, but for some reason they tell me that I cannot access the US based music content with my new Amazon Echo.

My UK bank uses my EPS address in the US as my primary billing address, but Amazon won't accept the card because it's not issued from an American bank.

The Amazon help person suggested that I get a prepaid credit card from Walmart or similar. *That might work. *I've been looking at these as an option. *Just wondering if anyone has experiences with these prepaid cards. *I see that Western Union have one, but it doesn't say if I could add funds at a WU branch in the DR.

Would love to get the full functionality of this Echo, it's a great piece of kit.
 
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jinty05

Bronze
Feb 11, 2005
925
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Think you will have a problem getting any type of US prepaid card as they all require you to have a US Social Security number for the Money Laundering legislation

beeza said:
I have recently come across an issue with Amazon where I cannot transfer my UK based music account to the US based one because I don't have a US issued bank card.

Although I'm a prime member they accept my UK bank debit card for purchases, kindle purchases and video, but for some reason they tell me that I cannot access the US based music content with my new Amazon Echo.

My UK bank uses my EPS address in the US as my primary billing address, but Amazon won't accept the card because it's not issued from an American bank.

The Amazon help person suggested that I get a prepaid credit card from Walmart or similar. *That might work. *I've been looking at these as an option. *Just wondering if anyone has experiences with these prepaid cards. *I see that Western Union have one, but it doesn't say if I could add funds at a WU branch in the DR.

Would love to get the full functionality of this Echo, it's a great piece of kit.
Click to expand...
 
Cdn_Gringo

Cdn_Gringo

Gold
Apr 29, 2014
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You might ask your UK bank if they have a branch in the US or a bank that acts as an affiliate. I was able to open a US bank account online as my Cdn bank has a US operation.

The reason you are having problems is that Amazon in the US is not licensed to sell/stream/broadcast copyrighted media content to clients who reside outside the area encompassed by their distribution license. Same will happen if someone in the US attempts to purchase or stream content from Amazon in the UK. For the most part kindle ebooks can be purchased by US travelers in many countries but there was a time and it may still be the case that new books or books already in one's library were not available in parts of Asia and perhaps elsewhere until the traveler returned to an area where access was again permitted.

It can be confusing. If you attempt to get service for a device purchased from Amazon in the Canada from Amazon in in the US, if the issue cannot be readily addressed, the customer will be directed back to Amazon in the country where the device was purchased. Gotta love globalization.
 
beeza

beeza

Silver
Nov 2, 2006
3,480
732
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Cdn_Gringo said:
You might ask your UK bank if they have a branch in the US or a bank that acts as an affiliate. I was able to open a US bank account online as my Cdn bank has a US operation.

The reason you are having problems is that Amazon in the US is not licensed to sell/stream/broadcast copyrighted media content to clients who reside outside the area encompassed by their distribution license. Same will happen if someone in the US attempts to purchase or stream content from Amazon in the UK. For the most part kindle ebooks can be purchased by US travelers in many countries but there was a time and it may still be the case that new books or books already in one's library were not available in parts of Asia and perhaps elsewhere until the traveler returned to an area where access was again permitted.

It can be confusing. If you attempt to get service for a device purchased from Amazon in the Canada from Amazon in in the US, if the issue cannot be readily addressed, the customer will be directed back to Amazon in the country where the device was purchased. Gotta love globalization.
Click to expand...



You're absolutely right. *Further dialogue with Amazon confirmed that it is a licensing issue with digital content from each specific country. *It seems that Apple only require a billing address and an IP address in the US to access US content on iTunes, but Amazon have gone one step further and insist on US based funding.

My issue has been referred up the food chain, and surprisingly the customer service representative sympathized with me as he was a South African. *Somehow I doubt Amazon will change their policy over this.

From a layman's point of view, I can't understand the benefits of restricting paid-for digital content around the world. *It seems like more of a hinderance than anything else. *With the increase of globalization and the digital world, why is it important where your money comes from?
 
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rubio_higuey

Gold
Feb 7, 2007
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625
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I have Amazon Prime with Banco Santa Cruz debit card linked to it, no issues. I can stream Amazon Prime content using a DNS provider DNS unlocking service. But that is Prime, no idea about Echo (which I now see you mentioned initially).

Try setting up a Prime account first, and go to Echo form there, maybe?
 
beeza

beeza

Silver
Nov 2, 2006
3,480
732
113
rubio_higuey said:
I have Amazon Prime with Banco Santa Cruz debit card linked to it, no issues. I can stream Amazon Prime content using a DNS provider DNS unlocking service. But that is Prime, no idea about Echo (which I now see you mentioned initially).

Try setting up a Prime account first, and go to Echo form there, maybe?
Click to expand...



Go into your Amazon account and try streaming music from the Prime music section. *Would be interested to know if it works.

The Echo connects to your prime music account and can stream from thousands of songs from thousands of artists. *For instance I can say, "Alexa, play Queen" and it will look for songs by Queen in the Amazon music database. *Unfortunately this doesn't work for me because my music account is still in the UK and I can't transfer it to the US, where I purchased the Echo from.

There is still plenty of content for the Echo to play though. *It has tunein radio, Pandora and iHeartradio and it works great. *But the voice control feature is incredible. *I love this gadget! (even in degraded mode!)

They just re-released the Echo Dot. *About the size of a hockey puck and has a little built-in speaker, but is aimed at connecting to a hifi via the aux out port. *At only $50 it's a real bargain.
 
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rubio_higuey

Gold
Feb 7, 2007
8,005
625
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Yes you are correct going into Streaming music requires entering another card number again and it's not taking either Santa Cruz or Entropay prepaid card. Try www.netspend.com and see if you can set up an account with them and have a US prepaid card sent to the USA courier address in Miami.
 
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