Perhaps this explains the rise in American Express's stock price today. Amex has perhaps the best customer service I've experienced (maybe that says more about

Perhaps this explains the rise in American Express's stock price today. Amex has perhaps the best customer service I've experienced (maybe that says more about me than them :). While Visa is a card network, Amex is both a network and an issuer. Visa works with issuing banks like Chase, so as a Visa cardholder, you would interface with the bank rather than with Visa when reporting an unrecognized charge. Given that Amex is an issuer, I could imagine that there might exist more incentives to side with the cardholder versus a merchant for disputes, as compared with a company that operates as a network but not directly as a card issuer.