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How does American Express AccessLine work? Is it worth it?

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We’ve come across American Express AccessLine which is a payment service for companies who want to pay any supplier with a charge card to help their cash flow. Obviously this only appeals to a small number of HfP readers who are small business owners, but we thought it was worth mentioning regardless.

Corporate card members with an American Express Corporate Green Card, American Express Corporate Gold Card or American Express Corporate Platinum Card can use this payment service for domestic and international payments.

It is basically a corporate version of Billhop, scaled up for the demands of small companies.  Amex pays your suppliers directly into their bank account and then adds the cost – plus a transaction fee, of course – to your card bill.

As well as having up to 55 days to pay the Amex bill, you will earn 1 Membership Rewards point for each eligible £1 spent.  This is clearly of appeal to our readers!

If this is of interest, the website with more information and to sign up is here.


Want to earn more points from credit cards? – December 2021 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit or charge card, here are our November 2021 recommendations based on the current sign-up bonus

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the top current deals:

British Airways BA Amex American Express card

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

Nectar American Express

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

American Express Platinum card Amex

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers.

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Amex Platinum Business American Express

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and a long list of travel benefits Read our full review

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express card

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending:

Barclaycard Select Cashback Credit Card

1% cashback and no annual fee Read our full review

Comments (98)

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  • Mzungu says:

    OT, as this is bits – going to Delhi in a couple of weeks, and I have booked a tour with a local company. Payment is on arrival, and they take Amex. However… they have quoted in INR, but will add 5% to credit card payments in INR. No surcharge for payment in GBP.

    This seems counter-intuitive, as I would normally always opt to pay in local currency. Obviously if I pay in GBP, I will be at the mercy of their forex rate. I guess if this works out to less than 5%, I’m better off accepting that. I don’t know that there is any way to find out what their rate will be.

    Anyone any experience of anything similar? Thoughts/suggestions?

    Thanks in advance for any guidance!

    • Craig Strickland says:

      I’ve used it before but had negotiated that they reduce the tour cost by 5% because I said I was worried about carrying large amounts of cash. I’m in the same position in a few weeks time for the next trip.

    • Bagoly says:

      Dynamic Currency Conversion (where the merchant’s bank “helpfully” converts to your home currency) generally adds about 7%.
      Two hotel bars in Bangkok have tried this on me this week.
      I suspect that in this case it would be even more – they are just using the 5% surcharge to push you to suffer on the exchange rate which is less visible.
      Amex would charge you 1% spread + 3% fee.
      Unless you are chasing a spending target, I suggest you use a Visa or Mastercard with no/low exchange fees – you would be better off buying Avios from BA.

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.