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American Express® Canada OptBlue Wholesale Discount Rate and Other Network Assessment Fees

 

 

The OptBlue program is designed for small merchants, providing a simplified option to accept American Express Cards through a participating payment processor. 


In the OptBlue program, the payment processor sets the total pricing (rate and fees) that the merchant will pay for accepting American Express Cards. Depending on the payment processor’s pricing plans, this pricing may include the American Express OptBlue Wholesale Discount Rate as well as other Network Assessment Fees that American Express charges the payment processor for participating in the OptBlue program.  

 

 

 

 

Wholesale Discount Rate

This is a fee assessed to payment processors on each Charge, by multiplying the face value of the Charge by the applicable Wholesale Discount Rate.  

 

CATEGORIES TRANSACTION AMOUNT WHOLESALE DISCOUNT RATE

 

   American Express Cards

Restaurant

≤ $200

> $200

1.60%

2.40%

Retail

≤ $500

> $500

1.60%

2.00%

Services/Prof Service

≤ $500

> $500

1.60%

2.00%

B2B/Wholesale

≤ $1000

> $1000

1.60%

2.40%
Other

≤ $500

> $500

1.60%

2.00%
Travel & Entertainment

≤ $1000

> $1000

1.60%

2.40%
Healthcare

All Transaction Amounts

1.34%
Mail Order & Internet

≤ $500

> $500

1.60%

2.00%
Emerging Markets All Transaction Amounts 1.18%
Residential Rent (Include Long Term Care) All Transaction Amounts 1.08%
Utilities

≤ $1,000

> $1,000

$0.68/txn

1.88%

 

Prepaid Cards
All Industries

≤ $200

> $200

1.60%

2.00%

 

USD Settlement
All Industries Applied to all Transactions submitted and paid in USD, excluding Foreign Issued Debit Cards. 2.20%

 

Foreign Issued Debit Cards (effective April 16, 2021)
All Industries - CAD Settlement Applied to all Foreign Issued Debit Card Transactions submitted and paid in CAD. 1.28%
All Industries - USD Settlement Applied to all Foreign Issued Debit Card Transactions submitted and paid in USD. 1.78%

 

Other Network Assessment Fees

 

 

FEE TYPE DESCRIPTION AMOUNT
Program Participation Fee

A fee assessed to payment processors on all American Express Charges.

0.12% of the face amount of each Charge

 

Card Not Present

(Non-Swiped Transaction Fee)

A fee assessed to payment processors on any Charge for which American Express did not receive both (i) the full Magnetic Stripe and (ii) the indicator as to whether the Card was swiped. 
Card Not Present fees do not apply to any Foreign Issued Debit Cards.

0.30% of the face amount of each non-swiped Charge
Inbound Fee

A fee assessed to payment processors on any Charge made using a Card that was issued by an Issuer outside Canada other than Cards issued by the Japan Credit Bureau (“JCB Cards”) and excluding any Foreign Issued Debit Cards.

0.40% of the face amount of the Charge

Existing

American Express Merchant Conversion Fee

A fee assessed to payment processors on each Charge submitted by a Merchant that previously obtained services directly from American Express.


This fee shall apply to each such Merchant transaction for a period of time following (i) the date the Merchant signed or was enabled to accept Cards by the payment processor or (ii) from the first Transaction submitted by the payment processor. 

From 0.30% of the face amount of the Charge

As a merchant obtaining services from an OptBlue participating payment processor, please contact your payment processor directly for questions about your merchant services pricing. You may also refer to your Merchant Agreement with your payment processor for more information. 

The fees set forth above are current as of October 2022 and subject to change from time to time. This notice is provided for informational purposes only.

The information contained in this notice is proprietary and confidential to American Express and must not be disclosed, circulated or published.   


®: Used by Amex Bank of Canada under license from American Express.

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