Wtf is with more and more places not taking AMEX cards

[Sinsear]

I love my Amex as most who have one probably do. I love the protection it offers me, the wide range of services available, and most of all it has helped me stay out of debt because the bill is paid in full at the end of every month.

That being said, I have noticed that lately more and more places have been refusing AMEX cards. A month ago I went to purchase a kitchen table and chairs at a well known retailer and it was "sorry we don't accept American Express anymore". And today I went to a pool supply store because I needed a new cover pump and I got the same story, "sorry we don't accept it anymore".

WTF?

I still bought the pool pump, but I walked out of the furniture store and let the commission hungry salesman know that he lost a sale.

 

[Kelvrick]

Amex charges higher fees.

/thread

 

[Sinsear]

Amex charges higher fees.

/thread

You mean a higher fee to the retailer to accept AMEX?

 

[Leros]

You mean a higher fee to the retailer to accept AMEX?

That's probably the case. Plus, almost everybody who has an AMEX card has a Mastercard or Visa just in case AMEX isn't accepted, so I doubt many sales are being lost.

 

[Keeper]

My wife worked in a furniture store a LONG time ago... the desk people got a 25 dollar bonus if they talked people out of AMEX and use another CC....

Back in the day (As my kids say) VISA And MC charged 3% to the merchant for the right to use the card. AMEX was like 6%. Which only makes sense because AMEX=no interest from MOST consumers (Dont be late LOL)

Big corps and chain stores cant do that (Furniture store was a Mom and Pop) so now... they just say "No AMEX"......

 

[ChaoZ]

I'm surprised Costco is Amex only though.

 

[SlitheryDee]

Amex gets a higher percentage of the sale. They might be able to get away with that if they represented a higher percentage of credit card holders than Visa or Mastercard, but they don't. Visa is the big dog in that respect, and if they started jacking up fees retailers would be more likely to grin and bear it. It doesn't kill them to thumb their nose at Amex for being such bastards, so they do.

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

Amex charges higher fees.

/thread

/this

 

[PhaZe]

"most of all it has helped me stay out of debt because the bill is paid in full at the end of every month."

Do you mean it automatically makes the payment for you from your checking/savings account?

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

When all you have is an american express, the world feels like a visa commercial. I heard that a long time ago; amex being shitty is hardly anything new. The gas station I worked for briefly wouldn't take them because they apparently screwed them over a few times.

 

[AMDZen]

When all you have is an american express, the world feels like a visa commercial. I heard that a long time ago; amex being shitty is hardly anything new. The gas station I worked for briefly wouldn't take them because they apparently screwed them over a few times.

AMEX is better in every way to the consumer though. And the customer service is better then nearly every VISA card, and its always the same person you call. Not a different person depending on the bank who issues the card.

I prefer my AMEX card over both my VISA and MC's for the customer service and the fact that I know they won't question me if I charge back or something from an issue I have

 

[spidey07]

I think it has to do with AMEX charging more per transations and businesses trying to find every measure possible to cut costs.

Not allowing AMEX seems like the perfect cost cutting measure. It's immediate and has no cost or capital associated with it, it's perfect.

 

[AMDZen]

"most of all it has helped me stay out of debt because the bill is paid in full at the end of every month."

Do you mean it automatically makes the payment for you from your checking/savings account?

I'm curious if this is what the OP meant also, as every credit card I have can do this - this is hardly an advantage for AMEX, although they do have many others

 

[Slew Foot]

AMEX customer service is spectacular compared to the other CC companies.

 

[Legendary]

I'm curious if this is what the OP meant also, as every credit card I have can do this - this is hardly an advantage for AMEX, although they do have many others

AMEX is a charge card, not a credit card. If you don't pay in full, they fsck you right ITB

 

[lurk3r]

I hate AMEX, they've been horrible for sending the bill out at the last possible date, not giving nearly enough time to pay it, and the costco card will not pay you the points if you are 1 day late on the payment, couple that with the fact noone takes it and you might as well just write cheques. I ended up paying more in fees per month than I got in points total, worst move costco has made.

I have 4 visa cards for various reasons, CAD, USD, high balance, low balance for online orders etc, never had an issue with these, but the AMEX is a problem every time.

 

[AMDZen]

AMEX is a charge card, not a credit card. If you don't pay in full, they fsck you right ITB

What do you mean? They charge me lower interest then most of my other CC's

Maybe you do, not me

I hate AMEX, they've been horrible for sending the bill out at the last possible date, not giving nearly enough time to pay it, and the costco card will not pay you the points if you are 1 day late on the payment, couple that with the fact noone takes it and you might as well just write cheques.

Why don't you try going paperless like nearly all tech savvy individuals. WTF still needs a paper bill

 

[Riceninja]

because AMEX continues to ream retailers up the ass

everyone that has an amex has visa/mc, so its not like retailers give a damn about not offering it

 

[ElFenix]

iirc, aren't visa rates getting ridiculous now?

 

[Azurik]

Holy batman... so much misinformation in this thread...

AMEX charges higher fees than VISA or MC. You looking roughly at 2.5% vs 1.5%. That's why most merchants want you to use another card... HOWEVER...

AMEX is a much better credit card for the consumer is virtually all aspects. There's a reason why AMEX is still in business despite the lower fees from VISA and MC, they're known to have more affluential customers - they spend more per transaction compared to VISA and MC holders. AMEX also has a higher requirement to get one of their cards.

And AMEX is not just a charge card company... they offer many credit cards too (Blue, Starwoods, etc.).

 

[dullard]

iirc, aren't visa rates getting ridiculous now?

See Page 3. Visa's fees are generally 4 cents to 10 cents per transaction plus 1.15% to 2.95% depending on the card type and business type. These are up from the 1.2% fees that Visa charged a couple decades ago.

American Express fees are harder to find, Wikipedia lists it at 2.5% which is down from the 4% it used to charge.

I can't understand why anyone would really be in love with AMEX. Sure, they've had some decent cards (nice rewards), but they've had some horrible cards as well (high fees and no grace periods, meaning you always paid interest). The bad cards soured me on AMEX. None of their good cards has ever been good enough to sway me to being a customer. The lack of worldwide acceptance harms my desire to go AMEX even more.

But, this thread really is a non-issue to me. Just get a Visa/MC for these situations. Discover card users have the same solution to lowered acceptance rates.

 

[sjwaste]

I think it has to do with AMEX charging more per transations and businesses trying to find every measure possible to cut costs.

Not allowing AMEX seems like the perfect cost cutting measure. It's immediate and has no cost or capital associated with it, it's perfect.

Except that Amex holders spend more money on average. Yeah the processing fees are higher, but Amex holders are spending more.

If a merchant doesn't take it and its a reasonably expensive item, the item has to be absolutely necessary for me to whip out another card and buy it. Electronics, jewelry, etc all go on Amex. So do rental cars, most travel, and any out of town expense. Why? Because Amex has your ass covered if something happens.

I use my Visa, usually debit anyway, for day to day crap. Fine if they don't take Amex. But beyond a certain threshold or situation, they're not getting my money if they don't.

 

[QueBert]

AMEX is a much better credit card for the consumer is virtually all aspects. There's a reason why AMEX is still in business despite the lower fees from VISA and MC, they're known to have more affluential customers - they spend more per transaction compared to VISA and MC holders. AMEX also has a higher requirement to get one of their cards.
.

Discover's still in business I guess that means they have a good credit card too?

Visa > Amex.

 

[RedCOMET]

I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned that a lot of corporations give AMEX cards for their employees.

 

[Miramonti]

Most likely Visa uses debit card costs and discounts to leverage contracts with businesses and banks to accept/use Visa. Amex can't do this.