 TITLE: Who Accepts American Express? CONTENT: Why American Express Is More Expensive for Merchants\n----------------------------------------------------\nSo why does American Express charge merchants more than Visa and Mastercard? American Express is both a payment network and a major credit card issuer. Credit card issuers primarily make money through interest charges and a portion of the interchange fees.\nMany American Express cards are actually not credit cards but charge cards. That means that the cardholder is required to pay the entire statement balance in full each month, so Amex typically receives no interest charges from these products. Furthermore, American Express cards almost always provide competitive rewards in the form of cash back or miles and points toward travel rewards. With both the higher costs of offering rewards and less income from customers paying interest, American Express' business model relies on charging merchants higher interchange fees. END