Accept American Express with Checky Pro

The card your highest-spending customers reach for. Priced honestly, so you can decide for yourself whether those orders are worth it.

See all 24 methods

New here? Checky Pro is the payments & checkout platform for modern e-commerce — American Express is one of the 21 payment methods you can switch on today.

What is American Express?

American Express is the odd one out among the card networks: it is both the network and, in most markets, the bank. Visa and Mastercard sit between thousands of issuing banks and thousands of acquirers, but Amex issues its own cards and settles its own transactions. That closed loop is why it behaves differently — and why it costs more.

Its cardholders are a different population too. Amex skews towards business travel, expense accounts and premium consumer cards with rewards attached, which is why the average Amex basket tends to sit above the average Visa or Mastercard one. People who carry it often carry it deliberately, for the points, and will pick it over another card when a store lets them.

So accepting Amex is a real commercial decision rather than an obvious yes. At 4,7% + € 0,25 it costs more than an EEA Visa or Mastercard. The question is not whether that rate is high — it is whether the orders it brings in are worth it for what you sell. For high-ticket and business-facing merchants the answer is usually yes; for thin-margin, low-value baskets it often is not, and we would rather you saw the number and chose.

What American Express can do

Coverage, costs and capabilities. Every method page answers the same questions in the same order, so you can compare two methods line by line.

Coverage

Payment type: Card network — credit & charge
Channel: Online
Consumer countries: Worldwide
Available for: Companies in the EU, UK, US & Hong Kong

Your company is registered in

Pricing & settlement

Processing fee: 2,95% + € 0,25Per successful transaction with EEA cards · +1% for UK cards · +1,75% for premium, business and international cards
Authorization fee: NoneThe € 0,25 is part of the price above — no separate fee per attempt.
Currency conversion: 2%Only when your customer pays in another currency than the one you are paid out in.
Settlement currency: EURPayout in GBP or USD is possible too, at the 1% multi-currency fee.
Settlement: 3–7 business days

Features

Refunds: Supported.
Partial refunds: Supported.
Recurring payments: Supported.
3-D Secure: Supported.American Express SafeKey
Express wallet buttons: Supported.Amex cards work in Apple Pay and Google Pay
Multi-acquirer routing: Supported.A declined payment retries on the next route
Chargebacks: Supported.From € 25,00 per dispute
Chargeback alerts: Supported.

Prices follow the region above and come from the same rate card as the pricing page. They may still vary with merchant profile, processing volume and acquiring setup.

Why American Express, and why through Checky Pro

The top row is the method itself; the bottom row is what our platform adds on top of it.

Bigger baskets

Amex skews towards business and premium consumer cards, and the average order that arrives on one tends to be worth more than the average card payment.

A card people choose on purpose

Cardholders collecting rewards will pick Amex over another card when a store accepts it — and go elsewhere when it does not.

A cost you can see coming

A flat 4,7% + € 0,25, published up front. No surprise on the invoice — you can work out whether it pays before you switch it on.

The real rate, up front

Amex is more expensive and we publish exactly how much. No blended statement line hiding it inside your card costs.

Switch it on when it pays

Offer Amex alongside your other cards, or leave it off — it is a toggle in your dashboard, not a contract negotiation.

Disputes handled early

Pre-dispute alerts reach us before a chargeback is filed. Refund inside that window and it never becomes a dispute.

How an American Express payment works

From click to balance — what your customer sees, and what happens behind it.

1
Customer pays
Card details entered once — or one tap via a saved card or wallet.
2
Amex verifies
SafeKey runs when American Express asks for it — as the issuer, it makes that call itself.
3
Authorised in seconds
The payment takes the best-performing acquiring route. If one route declines, the next one tries.
4
Settled to your balance
Added to your Checky Pro balance and paid out in 3–7 business days.

American Express, answered

Still something open? The team answers on WhatsApp, usually the same day.

Why is American Express more expensive than Visa or Mastercard?

Because most American Express cards are premium cards or issued outside the EEA, and those cost more to accept on every card network. Amex is therefore priced at our rate for premium and international cards: 4,7% plus € 0,25.

Is it worth accepting Amex?

It depends on what you sell. Amex baskets tend to be larger, so for high-ticket or business-facing merchants the extra rate usually pays for itself. On thin-margin, low-value orders it often does not — which is why it is a switch you control rather than something we turn on for you.

Can I accept Amex only above a certain order value?

Not automatically. Amex is on or off per store, and surcharging or hiding it above a threshold runs into scheme rules. If your basket mix makes that a real question, talk to us before you switch it on.

When do I receive the money?

American Express payments settle into your Checky Pro balance in 3–7 business days and pay out on your regular schedule — the same as your other card payments.

Do Amex cards work in Apple Pay and Google Pay?

Yes. A customer with an Amex card in their wallet pays with the express button like any other card, and your Amex rate applies to that payment.