4 ms·

I got an Amex card and I think it kinda sucks. Many businesses in Thailand don't accept Amex, I think due to the high fees. At some point I want to change my ca

by wsc981 3y ago

I got an Amex card and I think it kinda sucks. Many businesses in Thailand don't accept Amex, I think due to the high fees. At some point I want to change my card (once I can get a credit card from a bank in Thailand, cause my Amex card is from The Netherlands). Would be much better if Apple would get with MasterCard. Based on my experience, no issues anywhere.

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symlinkk 3y ago
Doesn’t work in Costco. Visa works everywhere.
- astura 3y ago
  Costco only accepts whatever credit card the Costco credit card currently is. Right now that's Visa, but it used to be American Express before 2016, ironically. Supposedly this exclusively allows them to negotiate down the fee really low.
  - bjoyx 3y ago
    It's Mastercard in Japan https://www.costco.co.jp/GlobalCard https://www.costco.co.jp/GlobalCard
    - katbyte 3y ago
      mastercard in canada too
  - DaiPlusPlus 3y ago
    Surely the grand total of Costco’s US credit-card fees can’t amount to more than a percentage-of-a-percentage of all credit-card spending in the country? ...otherwise WalMart and other major retailers (Amazon?) would have partnered with a single credit-card network to benefit too
    - mocheeze 3y ago
      Walmart and Kroger have had their own disputes with Visa (for one example) and (at least Kroger) started blocking some of their cards at select chains in order to negotiate a better deal. Costco has super tight margins. The the point that when their execs are talking about the price of goods they don't say, "[Item] is $70." No, they say, "[Item] is 69.99." Their culture is about every last penny of the margin. Their money comes from memberships.
  - scrlk 3y ago
    Costco UK accepts all three card networks (Amex/Mastercard/Visa). I wonder how their UK division can do this if Costco prefers to do exclusivity deals that allow them to lock in a low fee?
    - atdrummond 3y ago
      Europe has lower fees by legislative fiat. UK still has these (mostly) due to the majority of these caps existing pre-Brexit.
zarzavat 3y ago
Amex’s business proposition to sellers is “we charge high fees but a lot of rich people have Amex so you (the seller) should suck it up and accept us anyway” Sure that works if you’re selling perfume or handbags, but if you’re a family restaurant then rich people and regular people eat the same quantity of food, your margins are low, why accept it? Moreover Amex is pretty rare outside of certain markets. If only foreigners use Amex, and your business is not catered to foreigners, then you probably aren’t going to support it or in some cases even know what the hell it is.
- n_ary 3y ago
  Whelp, here in Germany many Starbucks and McDonalds, as well as some restaurants(middle to high end) immediately decline(or block Amex payment at counter), though if I am a bit sneaky and use Apple Pay method they can't see it and sometimes actually work. The issue with other cards here(Germany) is, everything is fake credit, i.e. my Visa/MasterCard is just "Debit" and immediately books paid amount from my bank and some also comes with hefty monthly fees because they issue a shiny/designer "Debit" card. My bank indeed issues a real MasterCard but the monthly fees are unreasonable added on top of my already expensive checking account fees and it has very crappy app where trying to temporarily (un-)block my card needs calling their support and waiting in line while amex app gives me these features immediately on app. Amex however gives me real credit(though they book the whole amount on start of next month) and also payback points in exchange for minuscle monthly fees but they have free same card with less sexy design which doesn't signal my ego correctly.
  - ulfw 3y ago
    What you describe for your particular Amex card isn't a real credit card either. That's a charge card. Germany doesn't do real credit cards much (if at all?)
    - lycopodiopsida 3y ago
      It does, he could get one from Hanseatic Bank for free, DKB had a proper credit card for years (now with s fee). They are mostly fee-ridden, since germans don’t like them very much (cultural thing?) and they are offered as an extra.
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wkat4242 3y ago
Same in Europe. I have an Amex card from work. Hotels and most restaurants accept it, most taxis and shops don't. They absolutely hate that card and even if they accept it you practically have to beg them to take it (and even then they will pretend "the machine is broken"). Even in big countries. Try to get a taxi in the queue at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. They will ask you to stand on the side and beg each taxi driver until they finally get one for you. Also the damn thing never works in machines, like for public transport tickets :( Which is often a far better option than taxis. I have to use that card for business expenses and I hate it so much.
ryukoposting 3y ago
As an American, I only use my Amex at businesses I dislike, but am forced to patronize for whatever reason. And groceries. It's pretty good for groceries.

by wsc981 3y ago

deleted 3y ago

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symlinkk 3y ago

Doesn’t work in Costco. Visa works everywhere.

astura 3y ago
Costco only accepts whatever credit card the Costco credit card currently is. Right now that's Visa, but it used to be American Express before 2016, ironically. Supposedly this exclusively allows them to negotiate down the fee really low.
- bjoyx 3y ago
  It's Mastercard in Japan https://www.costco.co.jp/GlobalCard https://www.costco.co.jp/GlobalCard
  - katbyte 3y ago
    mastercard in canada too
- DaiPlusPlus 3y ago
  Surely the grand total of Costco’s US credit-card fees can’t amount to more than a percentage-of-a-percentage of all credit-card spending in the country? ...otherwise WalMart and other major retailers (Amazon?) would have partnered with a single credit-card network to benefit too
  - mocheeze 3y ago
    Walmart and Kroger have had their own disputes with Visa (for one example) and (at least Kroger) started blocking some of their cards at select chains in order to negotiate a better deal. Costco has super tight margins. The the point that when their execs are talking about the price of goods they don't say, "[Item] is $70." No, they say, "[Item] is 69.99." Their culture is about every last penny of the margin. Their money comes from memberships.
- scrlk 3y ago
  Costco UK accepts all three card networks (Amex/Mastercard/Visa). I wonder how their UK division can do this if Costco prefers to do exclusivity deals that allow them to lock in a low fee?
  - atdrummond 3y ago
    Europe has lower fees by legislative fiat. UK still has these (mostly) due to the majority of these caps existing pre-Brexit.

zarzavat 3y ago

Amex’s business proposition to sellers is “we charge high fees but a lot of rich people have Amex so you (the seller) should suck it up and accept us anyway” Sure that works if you’re selling perfume or handbags, but if you’re a family restaurant then rich people and regular people eat the same quantity of food, your margins are low, why accept it? Moreover Amex is pretty rare outside of certain markets. If only foreigners use Amex, and your business is not catered to foreigners, then you probably aren’t going to support it or in some cases even know what the hell it is.

n_ary 3y ago
Whelp, here in Germany many Starbucks and McDonalds, as well as some restaurants(middle to high end) immediately decline(or block Amex payment at counter), though if I am a bit sneaky and use Apple Pay method they can't see it and sometimes actually work. The issue with other cards here(Germany) is, everything is fake credit, i.e. my Visa/MasterCard is just "Debit" and immediately books paid amount from my bank and some also comes with hefty monthly fees because they issue a shiny/designer "Debit" card. My bank indeed issues a real MasterCard but the monthly fees are unreasonable added on top of my already expensive checking account fees and it has very crappy app where trying to temporarily (un-)block my card needs calling their support and waiting in line while amex app gives me these features immediately on app. Amex however gives me real credit(though they book the whole amount on start of next month) and also payback points in exchange for minuscle monthly fees but they have free same card with less sexy design which doesn't signal my ego correctly.
- ulfw 3y ago
  What you describe for your particular Amex card isn't a real credit card either. That's a charge card. Germany doesn't do real credit cards much (if at all?)
  - lycopodiopsida 3y ago
    It does, he could get one from Hanseatic Bank for free, DKB had a proper credit card for years (now with s fee). They are mostly fee-ridden, since germans don’t like them very much (cultural thing?) and they are offered as an extra.

deleted 3y ago

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wkat4242 3y ago

Same in Europe. I have an Amex card from work. Hotels and most restaurants accept it, most taxis and shops don't. They absolutely hate that card and even if they accept it you practically have to beg them to take it (and even then they will pretend "the machine is broken"). Even in big countries. Try to get a taxi in the queue at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. They will ask you to stand on the side and beg each taxi driver until they finally get one for you. Also the damn thing never works in machines, like for public transport tickets :( Which is often a far better option than taxis. I have to use that card for business expenses and I hate it so much.

ryukoposting 3y ago

As an American, I only use my Amex at businesses I dislike, but am forced to patronize for whatever reason. And groceries. It's pretty good for groceries.