UK Card Machines That Take American Express
Yes, most UK card machines accept American Express. The acceptance fee is around 0.6 to 1.5 per cent higher than Visa and Mastercard because Amex charges higher interchange. Dojo, Worldpay, Elavon, Barclaycard, SumUp, Zettle and Square all accept Amex on standard hardware. The decision is not whether you can accept it (you can), but whether the customer mix justifies the higher cost. For B2B, hospitality and travel, Amex acceptance often more than pays for itself.
What this means for your business
Amex sits outside the Visa and Mastercard duopoly. It runs its own card network, its own merchant agreements (historically) and prices higher because it offers more loyalty value to cardholders. UK regulation capped consumer credit card interchange at 0.3 per cent for Visa and Mastercard but Amex is exempt because it is a "three-party scheme". The result is that Amex acceptance costs more per transaction, around 1.5 to 2.5 per cent total instead of around 0.5 to 1.0 per cent for Visa or Mastercard at SME volume.
In practice most UK acquirers now bundle Amex inside the main merchant agreement, so a single device accepts all three networks without separate setup. Dojo, Worldpay, Elavon, Barclaycard, NatWest Tyl and Lloyds Cardnet treat Amex as standard. SumUp, Zettle and Square add a premium of around 0.6 per cent on Amex transactions but otherwise process them on the same device.
Decline Amex if it does not fit the customer base. A neighbourhood corner shop with mostly debit card sales loses very little by turning Amex off in settings. A boutique hotel in central London probably loses revenue every week by not accepting it. The question is the customer mix and the margin per transaction, not the headline rate.
Key points
- Amex is accepted by all major UK acquirers including Dojo, Worldpay, Elavon, Barclaycard and the facilitators
- Amex acceptance fee runs 1.5 to 2.5 per cent at SME volume, about 0.6 to 1.5 per cent over Visa/Mastercard
- Amex is exempt from the 0.3 per cent UK interchange cap because it is a three-party scheme
- Bundled acceptance is the norm now, no separate Amex contract required
- B2B, hospitality and travel customer bases lose revenue by declining Amex
- Retail with low average transaction value usually breaks even on Amex acceptance
- You can switch Amex acceptance on and off in the terminal settings without contacting the acquirer
Common pitfalls
- Assuming Amex needs a separate merchant agreement, this has not been true for most acquirers since 2018
- Forgetting to check the Amex premium when comparing headline rates, the extra 0.6 per cent can flip the cheapest provider
- Turning Amex off without telling the customer base, frequent flyers and corporate cardholders notice immediately
- Quoting the Amex rate when the customer pays by Visa, this is a per-transaction rate not a flat percentage
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Open quote form →Related questions
Does Amex have a separate underwriting process?
Not in most UK setups any more. The acquirer underwrites once for Visa, Mastercard and Amex together. Amex has its own ESA (Express Service Agreement) tier for very large merchants where direct agreement with Amex makes sense, but below about £2 million annual Amex volume, the bundled acquirer route is standard.
Can I refuse Amex on a single transaction?
Yes. UK card scheme rules let merchants decline a specific card network at the point of sale, provided you decline consistently and do not surcharge. You cannot accept Amex sometimes and not others based on the transaction value, that breaches scheme rules.
Director, MerchantHQ
Oliver leads MerchantHQ's editorial and comparison research. With a background in UK commercial finance, he oversees provider analysis, rate verification, and industry reporting across all verticals.
Last reviewed: 18 May 2026