American Express Interchange Rates Fee OptBlue Program

American Express Interchange Rates Fee: How Do Their Rates and Fees Differ from Other cards? Amex’s OptBlue program interchange rates and fees; American Express Card, shortly known as Amex, is a leading brand in the US and other countries.

Here is the article to explain, American Express Interchange Rates and Fee Differ from Other cards, Understanding Amex card OptBlue Program!

It offers different types of cards with various features for customers to make smooth transactions. Banks and payment processing systems will charge interchange fees from merchants who process Amex card transactions. This, in turn, gives ways to reduce the fees enabling a business to save more money. 

Understanding Amex card interchange rates;

Amex card interchange rates and fees vary with other brands in the markets and merchants must be aware of them in detail. The main reason is that it issues credit cards to consumers without working with other companies. A merchant should sign an agreement with Amex to accept their cards. That’s why the company introduced the OptBlue program which serves as a gateway for small merchants to join the card network.    

What is Amex’s OptBlue program?

Amex’s OptBlue program is a unique closed system that facilitates agreements for merchants to bundle card networks with other cards such as Discover, Visa, and MasterCard. On the other hand, a payment processor will charge an additional per-transaction fee to facilitate an agreement. Interchange rates are high in this program because of the added risks. However, it is available for merchants who have a sales volume of less than $1 million per year in Amex credit card transactions. 

Break-up of Amex’s OptBlue program interchange fees;

Here is the break-up of Amex’s OptBlue program interchange fees as of November 2019 and they may be subject to change.

Retail;

• For tickets under $75, the interchange fees are 1.60 % +$ 0.10 per transaction
• 1.95% + $0.10 per transaction for tickets above $75 and below $1000
• 2.40% + $0.10 per transaction for tickets above $1000

Service businesses;

• 1.60% + $0.04 per transaction for tickets under $15
• 1.70% + $0.10 per transaction for tickets above $15 and below $400
• 2.00% + $0.10 per transaction for tickets above $400 and below $3000
• 2.40% + $0.10 per transaction for tickets above $3,000

Travel & Entertainment;

• 2.25% + $0.10 per transaction for tickets under $100
• 2.60% + $0.10 per transaction for tickets above $100 and below $1000
• For tickets above $1000, the interchange fees are 3.00% + $0.10 per transaction

Restaurant;

• 1.60% + $0.04 per transaction for tickets under $5
• 1.85% + $0.10 per transaction for tickets above $5.00 and below $25
• 2.50% + $0.10 per transaction for tickets above $25 and below$150
• 2.85% + $0.10 per transaction for tickets above $150.00

Other fees charged by Amex cards;

Apart from interchange fees, Amex cards charge some other fees while processing the transactions of cardholders. Some of them include:

• A network fee of 0.15% like Visa and MasterCard
• Amex Cross-Border of 0.40% which applies to international transactions only
• 0.30% for keyed-in and manually-entered transactions

Interchange fees for Amex with a direct agreement;

Amex offers two different interchange fee schemes for merchants who have a direct agreement with the company. Also, The first one is the discount rate plan which is identical to the OptBlue program. Another one is the flat-free plan which involves a $7.95 flat monthly fee.