American Express Merchant Accounts

The American Express merchant account is for businesses that accept the American Express credit card as a payment option for their customers. To sign up for the account, merchants must apply and prove that they have had no prior problems with other credit card companies.

There are several benefits to accepting the American Express credit card. Offering customers another payment option may help to increase sales. The account has no annual fees and may be managed entirely online for convenience.

Another benefit is that merchants may receive discounts on supplies and services and also special gifts. Some discounts may be passed on to customers to help establish regular customer relationships. Businesses may also offer customers an automatic bill payment option. This may be useful for establishing and maintaining regular customer relationships.

American Express also offers an affiliate program. If anyone applies for an American Express card through a link on a business website, that business receives revenue. To help a business advertise, American Express, offers online banner advertising. Merchants may follow the online guide to create their own online ads.

Merchants with an account have access to several important resources including meetings and seminars, tools for attracting card-carrying customers, and business to business directories. B2B directories allow a merchant to search for detailed information about other businesses, who may likewise search for that merchant.

American Express offers merchants free supplies that tell customers that they accept the card. Supplies include decals and stickers for doors and windows, restaurant supplies like tip trays and check folders, business card holders, plaques, web logos and more. Payment with American Express cards can be made with or without terminals. Terminals may be leased or bought or payments may be made online or by phone.

Two plans for payment by the merchant to American Express are offered. A business may pay a flat monthly fee and no fees per transaction. The other option is to pay a fee for each transaction made with the card and no flat rate. In either case, no other fees are necessary as long as the account is managed online.

Credit can be issued back to a cardholder online, by phone, or manually as long as a detailed receipt of the transaction is available. Inquiries about charges may also be made online or by phone. American Express researches every claim and works with the merchant to resolve disputes as quickly as possible.

American Express offers several ways to maintain security. There are several features for ensuring secure transactions whether the card is present or the transaction occurs online or over the phone. They also offer information to the merchant about how to detect fraud before it happens and how to deal with it when it does happen. American Express also works to ensure the security of customer data with a security standards council.

In addition to accepting the credit card, businesses with an American Express merchant account are able to accept payment from customers in the form of gift cards, travelers cheques, dining cards, and travelers cheque cards.