With OptBlue, American Express has changed the way we do business. 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. small businesses that have an estimated American Express charge volume of less than $1MM per year can be eligible to accept through OptBlue. Certain industry and franchise restrictions apply. To learn more and sign up, you can call 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.

When it comes to accepting credit cards, some businesses believe that American Express is always 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? We’ve heard testimonials from Card Members who specifically look for that American Express Card logo in the window; if they don’t see it, they might not walk in the door of your establishment. In fact, according to an internet survey of Card Members who reported using an American Express Card to make purchases at small businesses in the 3 months prior to the survey, 61% of consumers surveyed report they’re more likely to make a purchase from a small business when they see on the storefront that their payment method is accepted[4].

Keeping customers happy is the key to keeping customers. Our Card Members have our Card for a reason—whether it’s the rewards or customer service—so we want to ensure that they can use their Card wherever they want to shop.

At the same time, accepting their card of choice may help you grow your business. Data from the February 2018 Nilson Report supports that American Express Card Members are valuable customers who tend to spend more and could bring new revenue to your business. We found that, on average, the annual spend of an American Express Card Member is 3X that of non–Card Members[1] and the transaction size of an American Express Card Member is 1.7X that of non–Card Members.[3]

More and more businesses are welcoming American Express Cards. Based on the Feb 2020 Nilson report, American Express can now be accepted at 99% of the places in the US that accept credit cards. To learn more about acceptance, you can contact us.

We understand that resolving disputes hasn’t always been easy. We have heard this from businesses before, and because of this feedback, American Express has made many policy enhancements that will result in simpler disputes management for you and fewer Chargebacks. For example, we have limited the number of times a dispute can be raised on the same charge to two times and reduced the number of low-dollar Chargebacks you’ll see. To read about these changes in detail, you can download the Disputes Improvement Brochure.

American Express cares about businesses and wants them to succeed, so we invest in traffic drivers like these:

● Merchant Recommendations. We know attracting more customers is important to you—so it's important to us as well. That's why we recommend small businesses like yours in our emails to Card Members, in their online accounts and within search results on the Shop Small® Map. In 2017, over 15 million people received recommendations on where to shop.[5]

● Free American Express signage. Show potential customers you want their business by displaying signage that could help drive more sales. In 2017, we conducted an internet survey of consumers who reported having recently made purchases using American Express or other payment methods at small businesses and that they typically look on the storefront to see if their payment method is accepted when making such purchases. 61% of consumers surveyed report they’re more likely to make a purchase from a small business when they see on the storefront that their payment method is accepted.[6]