I've been finding Fewer and fewer places that accept Amex. Sometimes when you hand over an Amex they'll give you a look since you're costing them money. If hey really want to compete they need to lower their merchant rates.
That's kind of a dilemma for them, though. They have been very successful up until now by distinguishing themselves from all the other cards with extra perks and a premium level of service. To pay for those perks and that service, they charge more on the merchant end, with an implied value that their members spend more and are worth courting.
Now that this trend is shifting, merchants aren't seeing the value in accepting an expensive Amex card, and are deciding to go without. But Amex still needs something to separate them from the rest of the pack, lest they become just another commodity card. Once that happens (and the merchant network is slow to adapt), users may just switch to the Visa or MasterCard they're already carrying and forget about Amex altogether.
Here in Australia it's probably 50/50 that any given merchant will accept Amex or Diners, and of those that do, surcharging up to around 3% (though I've seen up to 7% before!) for Amex is quite common, particularly at small businesses.
OTOH, I think small businesses using Square has actually made it a lot less of a problem. The business just takes everything without having to make a decision about it.
reply