American Express
- Company role:
- Card schemeCard issuerAcquirer
- Head office:
- New York, New York, USA
A three-party scheme that issues its own cards and acquires its own merchants — the most expensive network for Australian merchants, and no longer RBA-regulated.
About American Express
American Express is structurally different from Visa and Mastercard. On its proprietary business it is both issuer and acquirer, holding the relationship at both ends — the definition of a three-party scheme. Australian acquiring sits with American Express Australia Limited, AFSL 291313, at 12 Shelley Street, Sydney.
Its Australian regulatory position has unwound. Amex gave undertakings to the RBA in 2004, and its companion card system — an Amex-branded card issued by an Australian bank — was designated in October 2015 to bring it inside the interchange standards. The major banks then withdrew companion cards, and the RBA revoked that designation in November 2021. Amex now holds no designation at all.
It remains the most expensive network the RBA measures: 1.33% of value on credit in the December quarter 2025, and 1.66% on international cards, against 0.96–0.97% for Visa and Mastercard credit. Despite not being regulated, Amex has decided to remove surcharging from 1 October 2026, matching the three designated networks by choice rather than by mandate.
American Express products
Official site: americanexpress.com
Compare American Express on cost
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