American Express announces a global move to lower merchant fees

The Financial Times carried an article yesterday (paywall, or free if you google ‘Amex to woo retailers with biggest fee cut in 20 years’) in which the new American Express CEO talks of his plans to reduce merchant fees globally to encourage more retailers to take the card.

In Europe, of course, Amex has no choice but to reduce merchant fees on its co-brand cards following the recent European Court of Justice ruling.

The graph below, taken from the article, is fascinating (click to enlarge).

This shows, globally, that despite a long-term decline Amex still charges an average merchant fee of 2.37%.  This is heavily weighted by the US, which has merchant fees unheard of in Europe, but is interesting to see in the light of the 0.3% cap on interchange fees (which is the majority but not all of the merchant fee) now charged by Visa and Mastercard in Europe.

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 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 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

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

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

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

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