Merchant Services & Credit Card Processing For U.S. Businesses
From more rate options to free marketing and products, we have your back.
Merchant Services & Credit Card Processing For Small Businesses
From more rate options to free marketing and products, we have your back.
American Express can be accepted at 99% of places in the U.S. that accept credit cards.
Nilson Report #1,301, February 2026. Includes American Express third party issuers. Merchant acceptance locations exclude ATMs and branches.
Here’s what it means to say yes.
ONE CONVENIENT PAYMENT
Get paid at the same time as your other card brands, so all your card payments come to you at once.
ONE SIMPLE STATEMENT
Receive a single statement from your provider for all the credit cards you accept.
ONE SERVICE CONTACT
Your provider can answer questions for every card you accept through them.
Rates may be lower than you think
With OptBlue®, you have options. Your provider sets your American Express Rate—just like they do for the other card brands you accept.
Contact a provider to get started directly or give us a call at 1-833-213-0511 to learn more.
Contact a participating provider
This is not a comprehensive list of participating providers. American Express Card payments can also be accepted through Third Party Service providers and/or Payment Facilitators registered for the OptBlue program under a Participant with a certified Payment Facilitator sales channel (marked with a *).
American Express aims to support small businesses by encouraging spending by consumers at small, independently-owned retailers or restaurants on Small Business Saturday® and during other Shop Small campaigns.
Explore free marketing resources, cost-saving offers, and more for your business.
Help Keep Your Business Running Safely and Efficiently
Resources for tips on managing core business challenges related to cleaner payments, disputes, fraud prevention and more.
Cleaner Payments Webinar
View this webinar to learn more about a cleaner payment experience with contactless payments.
Learn more about the payments products we have to help you protect, grow and
manage your business.
Frequently Asked Questions
With OptBlue, third-party providers sign a contract directly with eligible businesses to enable American Express® Card acceptance. The program also acts as an all-in-one solution with one statement, one deposit and one servicing contact for all the major card brands you accept. That means less paperwork and a simplified back-end process.
U.S. businesses that have American Express Estimated Annual Charge Volume (ECV) of less than $3MM per year* may be eligible to accept through OptBlue. Certain industry and franchise restrictions apply. To learn more and sign up, you can contact a participating provider If your business is not eligible for OptBlue or is interested in accepting American Express Cards directly with American Express, please call 1-866-847-0890.
*Industry categories where no American Express Estimated Annual Charge Volume (ECV) threshold exists: Charity, Education, Government, Healthcare, Insurance, Online Gambling and Games of Value, Residential Rent, and Utilities. Only approved and certified OptBlue Participants are permitted to acquire in certain Online Gambling and Games of Value segments. Games of Value Merchants must have a minimum ECV of $1,000,000. Please contact a participating OptBlue provider for more information
When it comes to accepting credit cards, some businesses believe that American Express is more expensive, and they believe they can get a better rate from other card brands. However, with OptBlue, the rate is set by the provider (not American Express). So you may have more rate options than you may have had before.
With OptBlue, your provider sets your American Express rate just like they do for the other card brands you accept, so you have more rate options. View the list of participating providers here. When you reach out to the provider, they will be able to tell you your rate for American Express Card acceptance.
Do you have signage posted to let Card Members know they can use their Card at your business? If there isn’t signage reflecting American Express acceptance, Card Members may think the Card isn’t accepted (welcome). American Express offers free signage and supplies. You can visit americanexpress.com/signage to browse the online store.
American Express Card Members have our Card for a reason – whether it’s the rewards or customer service, we want to ensure that they can use their Card wherever they want to shop.
Accepting American Express Cards may help you grow your business. The average transaction size on American Express Cards was 58% higher than that on cards on other networks* and the annual spend on American Express Cards was, on average, 3.1X that of cards on other networks**.
*Nilson Report #1,301, February 2026. Transaction Size derived from U.S. year-end purchase volume divided by year-end purchase transactions, not from individual consumer-level data. Includes American Express third party issuers. Average transaction size on other networks includes Visa, MasterCard and Discover credit and charge cards and excludes debit and prepaid volume and transactions.
** Nilson Report #1,301, February 2026. Spend per card is derived from U.S. year-end purchase volume divided by year-end cards in force (CIF), not from individual consumer-level data. CIF represents the number of cards issued and outstanding with cardholders. Includes American Express third-party issuers. Average spend per card on other networks includes Visa, MasterCard, and Discover credit and charge card volume and CIF, and excludes debit and prepaid volume and CIF.
American Express can be accepted at 99% of places in the U.S. that accept credit cards.
Nilson Report #1,301, February 2026. Includes American Express third party issuers. Merchant acceptance locations exclude ATMs and branches.
We understand that resolving disputes hasn’t always been easy. American Express has information, insights and solutions to help you prevent disputes and stay focused on your business. For additional help with disputes, visit https://www.americanexpress.com/us/merchant/tpp/manage-disputes.html or contact your Merchant Services Provider.
In 2025, less than 0.030% of US Card Member transactions turned into disputes that reached merchants. Source: Internal American Express data comparing January – December 2025 vs January – December 2024.
American Express cares about businesses and wants them to succeed, so we invest in resources that could help your business be seen by potential customers. Order free American Express signage to show potential customers you want their business.
Help Card Members find you by making sure your business has an updated listing on the American Express Map
In 2025, 5.8 million small businesses were promoted to over 19 million Card Members across email, their Americanexpress.com online account, and the American Express® Map.*
*Source: 2025 Internal Amex Recommendations Data. Amex cannot guarantee your business will appear in a search on American Express Maps. Merchants are displayed via the American Express Maps, Americanexpress.com, and email.