NEW YORK—American Express credit cards, once considered to have limited merchant acceptance, are now accepted in as many places as Visa and Mastercard within the United States, the company announced.
Amex's higher merchant fees have been a primary point of pushback from most merchants, especially from small businesses. In response, Amex dropped its rates, charging merchants just 2.37% per transaction in 2019, down from 2.48% in 2014, The Points Guy reported, citing Bloomberg data.
“(Former Amex Chairman Kenneth) Chenault launched the OptBlue program within Amex, which lowered costs for small businesses willing to accept Amex cards in payment. The efforts were successful; in 2019 alone, one million new U.S. storefronts began sporting the Amex branded decal,” The Points Guy said.