If you’re reading this article, chances are you’ve heard of American Express. But did you know its more popular outside of the USA that it is within the USA? Let's talk about why:
Who likes AMEX? Both in the USA & Internationally
First, let’s talk about people who like to travel. American Express offers a great rewards program for those who love exploring new places due to a easily using rewards for all major hotels, airlines, etc. Also spending on travel is beneficial for users. They have a great rewards program that gives you 5x points on flights booked directly with airlines or through amextravel.com (after the first $200 of purchases per calendar year), as well as 4x points on hotels booked on amextravel.com (after the first $100 of purchases per calendar year). So the points and rewards in the travel and hospitality sectors are generally higher than their competitors.
Secondly, those who like to dine out in style while they’re traveling tend to favor this company! The Platinum Card gives users access to over 1 million locations worldwide where they can earn unlimited 4% cash back when dining out.
So basically, travelers and people with money to spend love AMEX. In America, only around 1/3rd of Americans actually have passports. So significant travelers are actually quite low in the country. Though domestic travel is still important, it may not be worth it to get AMEX as a result, because they simply wont be doing as much travel.
Who doesn’t like American Express?
Store owners. Store owners definitely like Visa and Mastercard better. American Express has a very high interchange fees. This is the reason why many store owners, leaving people to ask "do you take American Express"? A lot, so much so it was even a marketing campaign. Within America, AMEX is especially unpopular in the Midwest due to lack of merchant acceptance:
The idea of not being able to use their card many stores turns a lot of people off. This is the main reason why Americans may not want this card and just switch to another brand. Though in recent years the company has been trying to counteract this issue and increase their merchant acceptance throughout the United States.
Then on the customer side; not everyone appreciates them. This is because they have a higher annual percentage rate (APR) than its competitors. The average APR for an Amex card is 16.49%, while the average APR for Visa and Mastercard is 13.86% and 14.51%, respectively.
Additionally, Amex cards have lower limits than other credit cards, which means users can only spend less money on their Amex cards before they become maxed out. Which makes them less desirable to consumers who have many credit cards and would prefer a cheaper card with a higher limit if given the option between two similar products. Then in the USA; given that the average person has at least 2 credit cards, they don’t want to worry about one getting maxed out quickly or one not being accepted easily. This lack of convenience turns people away from AMEX
But still, anyone who uses a credit card needs to know about AMEX
Despite the pitfalls, it’s no secret that AMEX is the most popular credit card in many countries worldwide. It’s not as widely accepted outside of the US as stated earlier. However; if you are a merchant that sells domestically or abroad its vital to know where AMEX is popular.
There are some popular countries where AMEX is incredibly popular. For example: Italy, India, Mexico, the UK, Singapore, etc; all love AMEX. Also smaller countries love AMEX such as Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Belize, etc. As the result the card has a wide audience even though its not as common in the States. So even if you live in the USA or are a U.S. merchant; its important to still have the card for the sake of tourism as well as what Americans do have the card.
American Express is not as popular in America as it should be. But the card is extremely popular abroad, making it an important card for businesses to have and process. That’s why businesses need a great PSP who can process AMEX for you and capture these card users all around the world. So if you want to process American Express, you should get PayVerse.
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