Amazon Flex Payment: How & When Amazon Pays Drivers

Amazon has skyrocketed in popularity and usage over the last five years.

To keep up with demand, Amazon has had to employ over 1 million people to keep things moving at the pace folks have come to expect from the delivery giant.

For those that want to earn a little extra cash, then Amazon Flex, an opt-in delivery contract, could be a solution.

Let’s check out Amazon Flex and how you can get paid as one of their drivers.

How Does Amazon Flex Pay Work?

Amazon Flex is a side gig that is great for earning some extra money without having to learn a new skill or trade.

Amazon Flex is a courier service that allows drivers to drive deliveries for Amazon.

As an Amazon Flex driver, you will complete Amazon deliveries for Amazon services like Amazon.com, Amazon Fresh, and Amazon Prime Now.

As a delivery driver, you may deliver a package, dinner, or other shipped goods during your block.

These blocks are time slots that you elect to deliver while using the Amazon Flex app.

If your aim is to make money online, Amazon Flex is a nice gig.

Certain deliveries are eligible for customers to tip drivers, increasing your total income during your delivery block.

In summary, Amazon Flex turns you into a part-time, independent contractor with Amazon.

You receive payment for delivering Amazon packages and food to Amazon customers using your own vehicles and devices, allowing you to earn extra income when you choose to.

When Does Amazon Flex Pay?

Its pay structure is flexible. Flex drivers receive payment based on the types of deliveries they receive and any tips they earn rather than hours tracked.

How Long Does it Take Amazon Flex to Pay You?

In general, Amazon has been good about getting payments out to their Flex drivers on time.

While the occasional hiccup has happened, Amazon usually sends out its payments to drivers at 5 p.m. local time on Tuesdays and Fridays.

The trouble comes in depending on weird circumstances.

Amazon Flex payments can take longer the first time you receive a payment due to the process of setting up the direct deposit between Amazon and your bank of choice.

Some banks have a holding period when a new payment or deposit comes in that can slow down funds hitting your bank account.

Also, administration hiccups and holidays slowdowns have happened in the past.

Generally, a driver’s best recourse at that time is to reach out to Amazon Flex’s driver support page and talk to a support representative.

By doing that, a driver can make their problem known before it becomes too late to solve.

Once you’ve been driving for a while and your bank is aware of this new income source, your deposits should process the same day you get them for most banks.

Types of Payments

Amazon Flex is a great way to make some extra money.

However, getting that money into your bank account is something you’ll have to help set up.

So, make sure you keep these tidbits in mind:

Bank Transfers (Standard Form of Payment)

The standard form of payment for a Flex driver is a direct deposit.

When you sign up to be an Amazon Flex driver, part of your onboarding will be connecting a bank account to your Flex app.

With this connection, you’ll be able to receive your payouts every Tuesday and Friday via direct deposit into that account.

Does Amazon Flex Do Instant Payouts?

As of right now, Amazon Flex only makes direct deposits to a bank or credit union.

In other words, they don’t support instant payouts to a debit card or other service that cannot handle an ACH wire transfer.  

Common Amazon Flex Pay Issues

While Amazon tends to do a good job with its payouts, errors can happen.

Here are some of the common Flex payout errors and what you can do to fix those errors when they come up.

Amazon Flex Payment Delay

When there is a payment delay, one of two things can be at play: either your bank account is having trouble processing the deposit, or Amazon Flex is still waiting to process tips from one or more of your deliveries.

Unlike the dedicated pay you receive from your scheduled blocks, tips have to be handled separately by Amazon.

Tips come from Amazon’s customers, meaning that Amazon has to process their payment method and the transaction before passing the tip over to you.

In either case, reaching out to the respective company (your bank or Amazon) can help you understand what is going on.

You’ll have to grab your bank’s support number for yourself, but Amazon has an FAQ page for its drivers.

Amazon Flex Payment Not Received

If you haven’t received a Flex payment when you should have, you’ll again have to reach out to Amazon Flex’s support by either call or email.

Both of these services will put you in touch with a driver support representative who can go over your issue and find a solution for you.

It’s also worth reaching out to your bank to see if they received the deposit and simply haven’t processed the transaction yet.

Getting Help with Problems: Amazon Flex Payment Support

Whether you prefer email or phone, you’ll want to have both of these points of contact with Amazon Flex:

• Email: [email protected]
• Phone: 888.281.6906 (Available every day from 8 a.m.–9 p.m. PST)

Urgent issues should be done over the phone, if possible.

That way, you can resolve the problem faster than email, which tends to run slower.

From there, the next steps will depend on your specific problem.

The driver service representative will have to review your problem and see what they have to do to fix the issue or get you pointed towards who can resolve the trouble.

Most payment errors can be handled with a phone call, so that’s the route we recommend to resolving those issues.

Notable Issue with Amazon Flex Payment

Remember how we mentioned that Amazon Flex does a good job with paying its drivers?

Technically that has only ever been true with delivery payouts.

For drivers doing tip-enabled deliveries, it hasn’t always been rosy.

Recently, the FTC went after Amazon over reports that Amazon withheld tips from its drivers between 2016 and 2019.

After being investigated, the FTC found that Amazon failed to render $61.7 million to drivers over those three years.

As such, Amazon was ordered to pay out this sum to its drivers on pain of further fines—nearly $44,000 per violation if not done.

If you’ve been a long-time driver for Amazon Flex, you may have had some of your tips withheld during those years.

The FTC expected payouts to go to drivers over the rest of 2021.

The FTC website has an email subscription link for updates about payouts, so check that out if you think you might be eligible to recover some of your money from that period.

Regardless, it’s important to stay safe as a gig worker.

While it’s nice to be able to choose your own hours and boss, you can run into trouble with many of the tech-based arrangements coming out now.

Stay safe by confirming transactions and staying on top of payouts from your employers.  

Wrapping Up

Amazon Flex is an interesting way to make some money as a side gig.

Since you don’t have to get anything new in terms of a vehicle or phone, you can work for the service as long as it operates in your area.

The service pays drivers twice per week and even includes the chance for you to earn some tips in the process.

Still, there are downsides to working as an independent contractor, including money processing woes.

As long as you stay on top of your payments and reach out when you have troubles, you should be able to avoid the troubles that plagued Flex drivers in the past.