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Credit Card
Surcharges
Explained

Discover why ‘Surcharge Free’
is better for everyone.

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Surcharging explained

Learn about Credit Card surcharges, your options as a customer, and what American Express is doing to educate businesses on the impact surcharging can have on consumer behaviour.

What is surcharging?

Businesses incur costs when they accept payment from a debit, Credit or Charge Card, but aren’t required to charge the customer this cost. When they do choose to pass this fee on, it’s called a Card surcharge and may not be included in the stated cost of the goods or service. Businesses may incur different payment acceptance costs depending on their size, so surcharge amounts can vary between merchants.

What does American Express think of Credit Card surcharges?

We don’t believe in surcharging our customers, and we’re working hard to educate businesses about the damage it can cause to customer satisfaction and loyalty. For us, the decision not to surcharge is an easy one; we’ve found no surcharge leads to a better customer experience, and that 93% of American Express Cardmembers would like to see them removed. In fact, 1 in 4 would not return to a business if they were surcharged.

What you can do about surcharging?

The best way to show a business that you don’t approve of surcharging is to tell them directly, before taking your business somewhere else. If there’s a business that specifically surcharges American Express Cards, please let us know and we’ll see if there’s anything we can do to change this.

 

Find out more about Credit Card surcharging?

Watch one of our videos below:

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Putting the customer first

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Surcharging leaves an impression

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How does surcharging impact online shopping?

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Where is American Express accepted?

 

American Express is already accepted at hundreds of thousands of places around
Australia, including the places you love to shop, so you can enjoy membership
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