A decade or so ago, this list would probably be pretty long, how about 2024?
It's 2024 - what major categories or vendors don't accept AMEX?
Discussion / ConversationThey also don't even accept mastercard.
The funny thing is they accept Mastercard but not visa in Canada
It’s country dependent. In Mexico they permit all card networks in the store. Every time I visit I feel weird to be able to use Amex and discover.
Because the swipe fee in most countries in the world is capped at very small amount, but not in the US or Canada. They charge 1.x% for as large amount as human possibly pay. Thats why you can't pay mortgage or loan with credit cards, but in many other countries it's okay.
Yeah, but other countries do not get credit card rewards at nearly the same rate.
Correct as someone from latin america most of the US rewards seem insanely good compared to what we can get here. The best we get is 2x per $ with a monthly or yearly cap. Their are other like 5x on very specific categories like flights, hotels, gas and supermarket with also a cap
Even recently AMEX had to readjust their fee % since most business didn't accept AMEX when their machine was compatible with AMEX
I’ve used my visa costco card in Canada. Is it just that they don’t accept non-costco visas?
That’s wild. It can’t be because of fees since Mastercard is pretty even with Visa I thought. Do they have an exclusive deal with Visa?
They do, switched it from exclusive Amex a couple years ago.
Visa offered them a 0.4 percent rate. Only credit card that works there is a visa.
They had a very public falling out in 2015-2016 after previously having been exclusive.
They actually do accept Mastercard, just online. So with a few extra steps, you can buy Costco shop cards on their website with a Mastercard to shop in store
When my Discover it card offered 5% back during one quarter last year for wholesale clubs (10% for the first year including their cashback match), I bought $1,500 worth of Costco Shop cards online to max out that category. It was not long after that quarter that Costco stopped accepting Discover online. You may likely "thank" folks like me for Costco's decision to do so!
BoA CCR 5.25% on online shopping if you qualify for Preferred Rewards
What's odd is that Costco's credit card is issued by Citi, but Citi's own branded cards (Custom Cash, Double Cash, (Strata) Premier, Rewards+, Simplicity, Diamond Preferred) and AA cards are Mastercard...
(Even more odd, I know there's a Macy's card issued by Citi that is an AMEX)
Nothing odd about business 😂
I think yes for online.
They do through the online order system and vendor sales. In store is only VISA
This is a credit card sub but they DO accept Mastercard Debit cards
This is a credit card sub but they DO accept Mastercard Debit cards
That's by design. They negotiate exclusivity and a branded card in exchange for lower swipe fees.
...and they're how I ended up with an AmEx in the first place when that was their store card.
I just use my Mastercard on my Apply Pay and tap - it accepts.
Is it a debit card? That may be why.
Didn’t they used to? I swear when I had a membership I had to use an Amex. But I haven’t had a store membership in awhile.
Lol sneaky sneaks. I don’t like that!
Yeah. A few years ago it was Amex and then they changed it to Visa (in the US).
Costco online takes MC/Visa or Apple Pay not sure if that means Amex Apple Pay. In store is visa or Apple Pay visa
One of the reasons I won’t shop there.
They accept Visa only
eBay won’t be soon
Ya apparently Amex’s robust consumer protections were too difficult for eBay to continue working with
90d chargeback terms are hard.
Is that really a thing ebay's worried about? New to the Amex card world
Nintendo doesn't take Amex
Not surprised 😆
They do take PayPal though, so you can just link your card through there thankfully.
Oh? That's kind of strange, I thought paypal's fees were higher than amex. Curious if the online retail category would be triggered if processed through paypal; both steam and gamepass count when directly charging the card
My experience has varied so much I can’t say one way or another, when paying with Amex via PayPal lol. I may have to try this though to see how it codes.
Lol that tracks with my experience with it too. I just use the BoA CCR for online purchases now
Local asian grocery stores
In NYC I went to multiple restaurants in Chinatown and they only accepted cash and Amex lol
Does Amex still give merchants a better interchange rate for only accepting Amex? I remember reading about that a long time ago, not sure if true or if it still applies today.
That sounds like it would be illegal.
That's the same behavior that led to US v. Microsoft. They gave discounts on Windows but only if you agreed not to provide computers with another OS, or no OS.
This is what Visa and Costco does?? Not illegal lol. Accepts every other debit card, but only Visa for credit
There's a difference between a merchant using only one credit card network and a credit card network pressuring them with higher interchange if they don't.
Costco has a Costco credit card issued by Visa, I believe.
Merchants exclude AmEx sometimes because of the high interchange fees. The merchant can do whatever it wants on its side of the business.
“As part of its current deal with Visa, it [Costco] pays transaction fees of only 0.4%.”
No, Costco uses Visa only because they gave them a better deal when it came to fees vs the other issuers.
Did they agree to a demand from Visa to not accept other card types in exchange for this deal, or do they not take those cards because they don't want to pay higher fees?
The difference matters.
Also, Visa is the largest payment network by far, so if Visa did something like this, it is definitely monopoly-building behavior.
The deal is, if Costco only takes visa, visa gives them a discounted rate for transaction fees. They had the same deal with Amex a few years ago
No, I think all of the major companies probably bid on it, as per usual. Their previous agreement was WITH Amex, loved when they did that. Just like government contracts, they’ll go with whoever they can to save money.
That's another reason I don't like store cards and cobranded open loop.
I have one with Capital One for Walmart but it's open loop. A while back they ended up in court with each other because Walmart tried to terminate the deal early and claimed Capital One wasn't processing transactions fast enough so for a while Capital One started finalizing pre-auths and then you'd get a second pending, and so you could only use about half your CL until the logjam cleared up later.
Walmart really makes a mess for their customers, and the Walmart Capital One is a much better card than that stupid GE Capital deal they had before. If they part ways with Capital One and go with something awful it just really tempts me to do that much less shopping at Walmart. Or if I do, it'll be on a card that's charging them high merchant fees, like an AmEx with Online Shopping as a bonus.
Call me a capitalist shill but that just sounds like businesses making deals with each other. Happens all the time.
Well, it does violate the Sherman Act.
A large business with a significant chunk of the credit card market cannot legally conspire with merchants to lock out other payment networks and harm consumers.
Who the fuck is Sherman ??
Technically not antitrust. You word the contract so that it’s inclusionary, not exclusionary.
“You can’t accept other cards” is illegal.
“98%+ of your business via Amex and we give you a 0.4% rate” is completely legal.
It may not even matter much if this is a violation per se (which I still think it would be) if Congress cracks down on merchant fees anyway, which they claim they might.
Merchant fees are too high, they exist mostly to pad profit margins of the bank and to fund lucrative rewards programs, and they harm people who can't get or don't use credit cards. Their net effect is to inflict injury on the marketplace as they make pretty much everything more expensive for everybody if a merchant accepts credit cards at all.
I think it's the guy who built tanks in case America needed to kill socialists during the Cold War
Who else than the legendary Sherminator.
Capitalist shills don’t typically condone anti-competitive behavior.
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12d
You don't need a monopoly to violate the Sherman Act, you only need to make anti-competitive agreements that attempt to build one.
Also, there is a private right of action, so anyone who can show they were damaged by such an agreement can sue, including customers who don't have/couldn't get AmEx cards but have to pay the interchange rates going to customers who get AmEx rewards.
Would it happen? I don't know. Are they still doing it and does anyone care to file a lawsuit against a huge bank with an army of lawyers? This government has given up trying to promote competition. It's fine with four credit card networks, because if it tells them to cut someone off from the payments network, they all do it even if the request isn't legal.
Windows had a massive share of the market then, Amex’s share isn’t even close.
Allot of people dont believe me when I say Bill Gates is a ruthless businessman that has a monopoly on PC. And how linux and open source upsets him.
They keep telling me he’s a good philanthropist. I keep telling them that’s his cover up after the court cases to repair his image. Other than that, he’s cold hearted back then.
I've seen them go to local stores and delis in and try to convince them to take amex and as well advertise up front they do. I think they've been giving the smaller guys a break on the rate but who knows.
That reminds me. At one point, Neiman Marcus only accepted Amex
The first time this happened to me I was really surprised lol.
Amex gave them a good deal they don't got to add sub charge so they make an exception to their cash only rule lol.
Bigger ones usually do, the smaller mom pop ones it’s hit or miss if they take card at all.
My local Dairy Queen 😢
Mine's the same way! It surprises me that Dairy Queen corporate allows their franchises to not accept Amex, given that Berkshire Hathaway (the owner of DQ corporate) has a large stake in Amex.
No clue if this is related, but DQ is known in the franchise world for creating some of the worst franchisee agreements ever. They gave up a ton of rights that they shouldn't have.
DQ did or the franchisees?
DQ, the franchisor. Their original franchise agreement was like 2 pages.
Same
fatty
And chicken express apparently
Internationally their coverage isn't good. That's ironic for being famous for travel cards. Locally I have problems using them with small vendors.
I've gotten mixed response. Like few places in Europe won't accept at all (any card for that matter, not just amex). And in India it's widely accepted.
i went to portugal for work, not one place accepted amex lol. luckily i had my Visa but ones europe isn’t kind to Amex lol
It’s getting better. The UK, France, Italy, and the Netherlands are almost to the level of the US for Amex acceptance.
IDTS, in India it is accepted only in big cities or big chain restaurants/places. A local jewellery store (in tier B city) didn’t accept my Amex.
Speaking about acceptance, Indian grocery store gives special discount if I pay using Visa/MC and not Amex. I try to use Amex BCP (to get 6% CB) but almost every time, the discount I get outweighs the CB. Interestingly I see that places which don’t accept Amex are also the same people who don’t accept Discover.
Doesn’t BCP charge a FTF when you pay in INR as well, other than the fact that the 6% CB is valid only for the US grocery stores?
I mean to say “when I use BCP at Indian grocery stores in the US, they don’t accept it and give a discount. This trick works at an Indian grocery store near my home”
Yeah, I suppose it works great in big metros, and even in mid-size cities like Lucknow, I didn't have any problem at all. But then it is also dependent on the type of store rather than the city, like a good-sized supermarket, an electronics store, etc. will Def accept amex, but a local corner store won't.
If you have your Amex added to GPay they should accept it. Tho as NRIs GPay is the only option since we can’t get the others, but my family has iPhones.
I have GPay which I used to use back in India before coming to the US. Could you tell if I can still use that GPay to add my US Amex card or do I have to get a new GPay account?
Unfortunately my entire family is on iPhone so we don’t have access to GPay or else I would be able to.
What was the jewelry store and city if I may ask? I just picked up a set of diamond earrings on my platinum on Wednesday.
It was Malabar Gold& Diamonds in RJY.
Which (and where) store did you go to ?
I went to both Kalyan and GRT Jewlers in Coimbatore TN. When going to insert the card the associate at GRT saw my card and asked if it was an American card and I said yes. He went back and brought out a different card reader and it worked the first time. I then went to Kalyan and this time told them myself I will be using an international Amex card. He said no worries and then went back and also got a different card reader and it worked first time too.
Malabar is a top 3 jeweler in the country, and way bigger than GRT so they definitely would accept Amex, the associate you worked with must have realized it was an international card which is why it probably didn’t work. I tried ordering dominos online as well a week ago with my gold card and it wouldn’t go through
Edit: …must have NOT realized…
Thanks for the elaborate response.
This time it was my mom (who is an AU on my Amex Gold) who went to buy some jewellery at Malabar and she was told that the card will not be accepted. They asked if it was an international card and when she said yes, they denied using it. But from next time, I will ask them to get them a different card reader to use it
Regarding Dominos, I can take a guess why it didn’t work. Apparently, recently GOI (when Sitharaman became Finance Minister) has stopped accepting foreign cards (even MC and Visa) for online payments on online platforms (like Zomato). But some payment processors like RazorPay still accept foreign Amex as a mode of payment (with 2FA authentication through SafeKey) but when I use Visa/MC to pay in the same RazorPay, there is a popup saying “Foreign cards aren’t accepted”
Interesting to hear that your mom was outright denied. Definitely do ask then for a different reader, hopefully you can talk with a different sales associate. I’m quite surprised he didn’t go back to check with the manager since I’m pretty sure they work partially on a commission base as well.
And thank you for explaining the situation regarding online platforms. You know, I really dislike the direction the Indian government is moving towards, turning their backs on NRIs. So now I can’t make UPIs nor should I expect to be able to buy anything online. Unfortunate, but thank you for the information!
Yes, that’s strange because when she goes to DMart in the same town, the card is accepted without any hassle. But at the jewellery store, she was turned down.
Yes, I agree with the direction the GOI is going regarding foreign exchange transactions. There are so many taxes and fees around remittances too. If it helps, I used to use PhonePe in India which I still use to transfer money from one Indian account to another (everything can be done as normal) but the main problem comes when I have to send USD to India. Remitly/Wise sometimes are pretty costly
Yea it is weird how inconsistent it is, I swiped at kfc recently as well that worked just fine.
How were you able to use PhonePe as an NRI, I thought it wasn’t possible for NRIs to use it?
It’s a travel card because of the perks not because you’re supposed to use it abroad.
I thought that was funny when I went to Canada and they dont take Amex, that whole no foreign transaction fees are really only a benefit if you can use it.
Amex is pretty widely accepted in Canada. Like 90% of places I go take Amex. And it’s not uncommon to see smaller businesses with “NO AMEX” taped to their payment machine that actually do take it and are trying to avoid the higher fees
The fact that I need to carry a visa along with Amex is enough to say coverage isn’t good enough. People with visas do not need to carry an alternative.
I feel you at one point I had a visa for my amex and a MasterCard for my discover. Fun times lol
I always carry at least 2 cards if one of them likes to call me a fraud, so it makes no difference to me.
I agree. It always a good idea to carry at least 2 cards. You never know why a transaction will fail for one card. However, it's not because I am worried about if Amex will be accepted.
Amex not being accepted widely used to be very true years ago. Now, it's more where you live. I have lived in several areas and using my Amex card was never really an issue.
I carry both a visa and MC at all times. Especially overseas. Sometimes a processing network goes offline. I had such an issue twice last month while traveling outside US.
Regardless. Amex still a solid company that I use for very specific transactions. And the diff is very significant. u shouldn’t use a screwdriver as a plier.
I was a CSR user for years... from the original sign up bonus in 2016. I had been around the world with no issues where someone wouldn't accept Visa, if they didn't, they wouldn't accept cards. I moved to Amex in 2023 to give it a try for a year after hearing how acceptance is up, and the ubiquity of platforms like Shopify and Toast. My first trip to SE Asia had me swiping a Visa for a third of merchants. In London, most places accepted Amex, but pubs are where I ran into the most issues. In Brussels, tourist areas had accepted Amex, but neighborhood cafes were Visa/MC only.
I ultimately swapped back to my CSR in January. It also doesn't feel like a rewards coupon book with figuring out the best way to do point redemptions.
Progressive
I was curious and decided to check. It's weird. I can log on to Progressive Home and there's an option to pay with American Express, Visa and Mastercard. But then when I go to Progressive Auto , it's Visa, Mastercard and Discover.
I have Progressive Auto and if you use the app and go make a payment manually it gives you the option to use PayPal. If your Amex card is in your PayPal wallet you can use it and Progressive will accept the payment. It even activated an offer I had on my Amex card for 10% back on insurance purchases up to $20.
Insurance companies seem to be weird like that. I have Erie and for my home/renter’s insurance policy I can pay with any credit card. But for auto insurance they don’t accept credit cards at all.
i think it probably has to do with the way the different departments do their accounting, but yeah definitely strange
That makes sense. My first thought was maybe it was a regulatory compliance thing, but this makes more sense.
Though you can pay with Paypal using an Amex card if you’re paying in full, which comes with a sizable discount.
I paid every month through paypal when hitting my BCE SUB.
There’s also the ApplePay option shows up on mobile that I use with Amex
Same with Travelers
I don't think Nintendo accepts them
I recently travelled to Amsterdam/munich/berlin and I’d say 30% of all vendors didn’t take Amex, so my bilt card got a lot of mileage
Out off all the places I've been, Amsterdam happens to be the spot I've had the most trouble with AMEX so far. Which is funny, since it is also the city I've seen the most AMEX advertisements, especially at the airport.
My state and county government offices don’t take Amex.
Anthem Blue Cross doesn't.
Cedar Point doesn't take Amex at the park. I don't know if it's the same for other Cedar Fair parks (or the soon to be company after the Six Flags merger).
F for all us coaster nerds 🤓
We use AMEX at Cedar Point all the time. I literally was staring at my Amex statement 30 min ago wondering why my husband spent $100 and change at CP last weekend when we have the the GD meal plan.
Odd. The gift shops I was in didn't show Amex (only MC, Visa, Discover and when asked, I was told they didn't accept it. In my case I didn't want to use my Amex (I only have BCP), but just wanted to see if I could.
That may be it. I think most of the restaurants are run by Cedar Fair but the gift shops and kiosks are hit or miss.
I just used my Amex at kings island (also owned by cedar fair) a week ago for food purchases from a few places inside the park. Not sure though about merchandise purchases from the gift shop or clothing items with kings island branding.
I was at CP yesterday, and most of the purchases were inside various gift shops.
My favorite Asian restaurant & a local grocery store i frequent don’t accept it.
Both of my favorite Asian groceries have handwritten no AMEX signs. I use it with ApplePay and still get 4x. I find most places that take Apple Pay take Amex regardless of what they say. Except DQ. They mean it.
never tried it but they probably trying to not take their interchange fees. Lol, i should try it
It's hit or miss stateside. I was in a popular brewery the other week in a bustling town/area and they didn't take Amex. Always have a visa/debit card/cash handy
Oddly a lot of my bill providers don’t which pisses me off! My insurance it’s off brand Root, Spectrum and my car in body shop they take everyone except Amex. I wanted to use it for points! I’ll probably dump gold next year and just keep BCE.
Lots of local businesses.
To be honest Amex acceptance is dropped low enough it’s not a reliable daily driver.
Tbh I only use Amex everywhere. Save for about 2 places I go to regularly. My barber- cash only Fanduel - illegal to use a credit card to gamble in my state. (Not that I would cash advance at 30% to gamble lol)
I still keep a chase sapphire reserve for international travel fees/in a pinch. But if a place doesn’t take Amex, that’s usually my last time going there.
Same here, I switched grocery stores cuz of that.
If they’re (in this case, grocery stores) too cheap to pay the extra like 1-2% on a 40%+ margin, they don’t need my money lol
Exactly, like I know it costs you more. But it brings in more business opening yourself up to more payment methods.
How is the reserve worth the fee if you're not using it much?
Whoops, it’s the preferred lol
You can tell how much I use it lol
My local Marcus theater doesn't
United Health care does not accept
In Maine rn. A lot of the gift shops & antique stores don't accept it
Thank you for telling us that. I am planning a vacation up there and use my AMEX as primary so I'll have to be prepared with a backup.
eBay starting in August.
I was in Japan a couple weeks ago and id say 80% of the places i went to accepted AMEX. I got some japanese kitchen knives and they didnt take AMEX and some random restaraunts. in the US only small shops like liquor stores havent accepted my AMEX
Costco
I could be earning a ton of miles if they accepted Amex!
Here in Seattle
diner by my old office
my barber
dry cleaner
lots of bars
grocery stores in small towns here in WA
lots of places in small towns actually
On the flip side, Seattle City Utilities added Amex
I'd never hit my poor barber with amex fees lmao
Beauty services. You can almost never use amex getting nails, waxes, hair, etc done. They do not want the fees.
Progressive Insurance. But they do accept PayPal and I can still use Amex
Living in the RTP area of North Carolina, I've only been denied AMEX use at cookout(fast food chain) and a small pastry shop in Durham. Outside of that zero issues.
Internationally, I had some issues at bars and one cafe in Tokyo, some small restaurants in London, and probably 20 to 30% of places I went to in Amsterdam.
Overall, it is still worth bringing around a VISA backup, but for general purpose use, I've found it accepted well enough.
Sun Country Airlines
Food4Less surpringly doesn't take AmEx. Presented my Gold Card, the cashier complimented the card and then when it went through the system, it said "not approved". Called over the manager and she told us that Food4Less let go of Amex this last year. Since its a Kroger subsidiary, I would think they accepted AmEx.
The entire nation of Canada except for major hotels and American chains
Call themselves a civilized country apparently.
I went to a whole in a wall restaurant in a random village in Peru and they took Amex but a major gas station in Canada? Good luck
Cook Out
My local community college doesn’t take Amex as payment.
WVU tuition portal and city/county tax office.
Progressive Insurance payment
Daiso
Goodwill and Salvation Army
Town water utility, through a 3rd party processor, doesn't take AMEX (or discover). Any other place I frequent accepts or accepts only cash.
Progressive
Just found out today my town doesn’t (for property taxes)
nowhere i’ve ever been
Allegedly quite a few places in Europe, and from experience, some places in Canada
Potato Corner… they don’t accept discover either
The French
eBay
Bass Pro Shops. They also don't take Discover.
Just Costco and a couple of small local restaurants
Loblaws, which sucks cuz I actually like their stores (excluding the whole boycott stuff going on now)
Cookout! My wife has to pay it I happen to not have my Visa with me
Not a vendor, but I went to a see a doctor a couple of months ago at a pretty big hospital and tried to pay my copay, they told me they don’t take Amex
Went to 3 car repair places(smog, tire, mechanic) in Raleigh NC, none would take my Amex
Indian Grocery Stores
Armstrong Internet services
Costco, the occasional independent convenience store, and from August 17, eBay. That's about it. The acceptance gap has narrowed in recent years to the point that it essentially doesn't exist, at least here in the US.
Not sure if this is a regional shop, but Great Clips (haircut chain) doesn’t take Amex
Ebay. 🤮🤯
Just got back from Europe. Didn't run into any issues in Spain, France, Netherlands, Switzerland, or Italy.
Had trouble finding any place that accepts Amex in Greece.
Plenty of places across Europe
Goodwill
My girlfriend, she needs only cash for some reason
Hilti
Cookout
I've noticed alot of kiosks and vending machines claim to take AMEX, but it doesn't always work.
It's usually AMEX and not Visa/MC thay causes the most problems. Staff often say something along the lines "yes, AMEX cards give us the most problems."
Is it mostly the higher fees that make companies not want to accept Amex?
Ez pass doesn't accept them or discover
They do in Massachusetts
Yep, my Green is linked to my EZPass.
In NJ thy do, I get 3% CB with my BCP.
New York EzPass supports all four card networks. And you don’t actually have to use the EzPass associated with your state, you can use any of them. I still have my New York transponder and account, but my Pennsylvania plate is now assigned to that account. In other words, if you want to use Amex just sign up for the New York EzPass and put in your state’s plates, add your card, cancel your current EzPass when your NY EzPass transponder arrives.
I actually don't have amex cards anymore. We had a big fallout years back lol. I actually use the citi custom cash for my tolls as it's an easy 5 percent back.
That’s pretty solid, can’t beat that!
Costco is pretty big