This morning, we spoke to Dan Edelman, who heads up American Express’ Merchant Services division in the UK, to find out why ever more SMEs are starting to accept American Express. Dan gave examples of retailers as varied as Timpson, B&M, Booths, charities such as British Heart Foundation and Barnardos, and soon Screwfix, who are all adopting the payment method.
One question we put to Dan is the cost – isn’t American Express more expensive than alternative cards? Dan says not always – many payment gateways have moved to a single fee structure regardless if the card is Amex, Mastercard or Visa. But more importantly Dan spoke to the value of the American Express card holder, their values and the fact that they simply spend more than those without a card.
But at the end of the day, it’s the same as online, it’s about removing friction at the point of payment and making customers welcome, allowing them to pay by their chosen method and winning repeat valued clientele that return again and again.
In this video we discuss:
- 00:00 Introducing Dan Edelman at American Express
- 00:53 Examples of SMEs starting to use American Express for the first time
- 04:19 Why should SMEs accept American Express?
- 08:00 How American Express are embracing new payment options and Open Banking
- 11:26 Is American Express more expensive and what makes an Amex customer more valuable?
- 15:09 The value of Millennial and Gen Z customers using Amex
- 17:36 How American Express drive customers to SMEs
- 20:19 How to get started accepting American Express direct or through partners
