1. What the Settlement Is About

In September 2025, the FTC reached a $2.5 billion settlement with Amazon over its Prime subscription practices — one of the largest consumer redress settlements in FTC history. Under the settlement:

• Amazon is required to pay a $1 billion civil penalty.
• It must provide $1.5 billion in refunds to affected customers.
• The company must also make its Prime enrollment and cancellation flows more transparent and easier to navigate.

According to the FTC, Amazon allegedly enrolled tens of millions of users into Prime without their knowledge or clear consent and made it difficult to cancel — leading to unwanted subscriptions and repeated charges. Amazon did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement.