CAN I USE MY FSA OR HSA DEBIT CARD ON AMAZON?

FSA/HSA card holders, I have great news for you. As of this week in March of 2019, Amazon.com has finally started accepting FSA and HSA debit cards. (In the past, they did not take my FSA or HSA card when I tried.) What does this mean for you?

1. This means using your FSA or HSA account is much easier with your FSA/HSA debit card, as eligible items will automatically be honored and deducted from your account. NO PAPERWORK or REIMBURSEMENTS.
2. Amazon now has a FSA and HSA store that shows you what are already known to be FSA and HSA eligible, and each item will be labeled with “FSA or HSA eligible“
3. Adding to the ease, Amazon also lets you add your FSA or HSA debit card number to your account for any future purchases that are eligible. When you checkout, it even will show you how much of your order will be FSA or HSA eligible!

You know I had to try it ASAP! I’ll walk you through my purchase of a Jack Black Intense Therapy Lip Balm w/ SPF 25 (which is surprisingly FSA/HSA eligible):

Here is Amazon's new FSA/HSA store front:

I first added my FSA debit card to my Amazon account. I have a WageWorks debit card that looks like this:

When I added my FSA debit card along with my regular credit card, I made sure NOT to check the box that says “Use this card across all Amazon”. It was checked by default, but you definitely don’t want to be making non-eligible purchases with your FSA/HSA card. You only want your card info handy when you make FSA or HSA purchases:

After I added my FSA debit card to my account, it looks like Amazon recognized that it’s a healthcare card, and labeled it “FSA or HSA card” automatically for me. Cool!

Now I’m ready to add my FSA or HSA-eligible item to my cart. What’s nice is that it looks like all items that are eligible will be labeled with “FSA or HSA eligible” now. You have to look hard for it way down on the description, but it will give you confidence that your FSA or HSA card administrator (WageWorks, etc.) will accept it. In my case, my FSA-eligible lip balm that I wanna buy indicates this:

NOTE, however, that certain varieties of the same product may not be FSA or HSA eligible. This lip balm is an example. When I chose a different flavor (Black Tea & Blackberry), the “FSA or HSA eligible” designation was gone. So for some reason, the ingredients or make-up of the Natural Mint & Shea Butter version made it eligible. My point is, you need to verify your item’s eligibility when you add to your cart if you want to be absolutely sure that your purchase will be eligible and accepted by your FSA/HSA administrator.

When I checked out, Amazon asks me what payment method I want to use. Since I already added my FSA debit card to my account, I was able to conveniently check my new “FSA or HSA card ending in …” My cart even told me how much of my order would be eligible. Neat!

That’s it, it’s that easy! After I made my purchase, Amazon verifies that I used my FSA card for my purchase:

In my confirmation email, Amazon even warns me that my card won’t get charged until the item is shipped. Which is fine, but if you’re one of those last-minute folks trying to beat your January 1st (or March 15th grace-period) deadline to clear your account (or whatever your account’s yearly FSA deadline is…HSAs don’t have a deadline, by the way), you might be too late to get use your card in time. So plan accordingly.

Hopefully this was helpful. As an Amazon Prime member, I know I’ll definitely start using my FSA/HSA debit card on Amazon now. And if you do a lot of your online purchasing at Amazon as well, I’m sure this will be a game-changer for you too.

* A word about links on this page: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases from Amazon.com.