They are trying to improve this in France. I've met quite a few shops who started to accept amex because Amex has started offering very low transaction fees for

They are trying to improve this in France. I've met quite a few shops who started to accept amex because Amex has started offering very low transaction fees for shops with small volume. I think it's actually smart, they're not likely to earn much money from those shops anyway and it's a good way to increase their footprint (before that they were only accepted in department stores and supermarkets basically).