Amazon Prime customers could now get up to $200 after settlement rules suddenly change

If you're an Amazon Prime customer, you could be up for the chance of getting some cash paid out to you after a landmark court settlement.

This comes after earlier customers were eligible for up to $51 from the settlement, and now the amount has nearly trebled.

The company had already paid over $845 million to its former customers, but now Amazon is expanding the qualifications needed for refunds agreed to by its concluded case with the Federal Trade Commission that saw the online platform and regulatory body agree to pay $2.5 billion to settle claims it allegedly tricked customers into $139 Prime memberships.

The FTC claimed in its lawsuit, that Amazon engaged in deception regarding its Prime enrolment practices.

Amazon denied the claims, stating it had always followed the law.

Amazon will expand its payouts (Getty Stock Images)

The agreement includes a $1 billion civil penalty and $1.5 billion in refunds to its customers, and was updated on September 11, to include those who, between June 23, 2019 and June 23, 2025, used no more than 20 Prime benefits in a 12-month period.

There, Amazon confirmed it had finished phase two of its reimbursement process, and it will continue to pay those until February 2027, Amazon will provide additional payments to customers who have already received funds, and they should get $149 to make a total payment of $200.

This will be an automatic process, and those eligible won't need to claim or apply for the funds.

The funds should be paid out by April 2027.

The agency’s website states: “The FTC is not contacting people about refunds in the Amazon matter.

“If you get a call from someone who claims to be from the FTC, it’s a scam.”

Another thing that is part of the settlement includes Amazon having to 'clearly and conspicuously' disclose the terms of Prime memberships and allow for an easy cancellation process.

FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson issued the following statement on the decision to pay out customers back in July.

People can expect a total of $200 (Getty Stock Images)

He said via a press release: “Today, we are putting billions of dollars back into Americans’ pockets, and making sure Amazon never does this again.”

Financial expert Alex Beene also told Newsweek: "The money is being distributed due to the FTC alleging Amazon used confusing enrolment screens to sign people up for Prime without any form of meaningful consent and then made cancellation difficult.

"For other businesses, the larger message is that subscription growth cannot come at the expense of being more transparent with customers on fees and the renewal process."

Amazon said in a statement last September: "Amazon and our executives have always followed the law and this settlement allows us to move forward and focus on innovating for customers.

“We work incredibly hard to make it clear and simple for customers to both sign up or cancel their Prime membership.”