What makes American Express different?

Question

American Express is bad because it does not have the same widespread international acceptance that some of the other major card networks have. American Express credit cards also require good credit or better for approval, and they often come with high annual fees.

Still, American Express isn’t all bad as a credit card company. Their credit cards have some great benefits and rewards in exchange for their annual fees, including the best rewards rate for groceries on the market today and a line of charge cards with loads of travel perks.… read full answer

So, take this with a grain of salt…

Reasons Why American Express Is Bad

1. American Express cards have low international acceptance.
While Amex credit cards are widely accepted in the United States, they aren’t great for use in other countries. American Express trails far behind Mastercard and Visa when it comes to international card acceptance, largely because they charge merchants higher interchange fees (or “swipe fees”) than other networks charge. These higher fees don’t affect Amex cardholders directly, but they do make merchants less likely to accept American Express credit cards.

2. Amex credit cards require above-average credit.
American Express credit cards are only available to people with good or excellent credit, so they are hard to qualify for.

3. American Express cards typically aren’t cheap to own.
Amex credit cards – especially the best ones – tend to charge relatively high annual fees.

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Answer 1 · 2021-02-22 06:24:30

Jamie Thompson, WalletHub Analyst

@ExTaxMan 02/22/21 This answer was first published on 02/22/21. For the most current information about a financial product, you should always check and confirm accuracy with the offering financial institution. Editorial and user-generated content is not provided, reviewed or endorsed by any company.

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What makes American Express different is that it is both a card issuer and a card network. Unlike card issuers such as Chase or Bank of America and card networks such as Visa or Mastercard, American Express serves both the role of servicing accounts and processing transactions. Amex also charges higher interchange fees, better known as swipe fees, than the other major card networks.

On another note, American Express credit cards are unusual in that they’re geared toward individuals who have a high net worth. Similarly, while many card issuers offer credit cards to people of all credit levels, American Express only accepts applicants that have good or excellent credit scores. Also unlike most major credit card companies, Amex issues charge cards, which must be paid in full each month.

Finally, American Express credit cards used to be accepted at far fewer merchants in the United States than Visa or Mastercard cards. This is no longer the case, as Amex is now accepted by practically every U.S. merchant that takes credit cards. However, it is still far behind Visa and Mastercard when it comes to international acceptance.

What makes American Express different?

Jamie Thompson, WalletHub Analyst

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