Vasco

I just spent 5 weeks in Australia, and I eventually just gave up entirely on my Amex. While, yes, I was able to use my Amex at some (although not all) hotels and some (not all) higher end restaurants and locations, for the other 80-95% of the trip I encountered nothing but this garbage:



This is just one demonstrative example. Almost every POS machine had a hastily taped "NO AMEX!!!" note attached.

I travel 80% of the year, mostly in SE Asia but also in Europe and Latin America - and I live in Canada. Normally I just use my Amex everywhere, and occasionally I run into one or two shops or restaurants that won't take my card. Not a problem. But Australia just seems to have a serious hatred for all Amex cards. By the second week of my 5 week trip I just switched to paying with cash.

That's the end of my rant. I know there are reasons behind it. I'm just amazed that those reasons exist in 2019, and that in my recent experience I can use my Amex more readily in a small village market in Vietnam than I can while shopping in downtown Melbourne and Sydney.

Points Scrounger

How common is the international surcharge?

Mwenenzi

Very uncommon. I have never seen that "international" sign in Au.

Surcharges on credit card usage is common & legal in Australia. Many threads on this topic.
Many vendors do not accept Amex and/or have a higher surcharge for Amex.
The major supermarkets chain do accept Amex without surcharge.

Gasolin

Hahaha I was in Melbourne in 2013 and yes, they didn't take the AMEX a lot so I had to use an European VISA, which was PIN / code.
I suppose based on your post that it didn't change much in Australia.

It's a shame because I do like AMEX.

tmiw

Seems weird that merchants would have issues with AmEx since interchange is capped and all. Perhaps there's an exemption or a higher cap for three party networks that makes it far more expensive to run?

Points Scrounger

In Dublin last year, I found absolutely no merchants who wanted anything to do with Amex: shrank from it like a vampire presented with an extra-garlic pizza!

Mwenenzi

Amex has a higher % fee compared to Visa. Even my dentist and doctor do not accept Amex (and they are well paid)

tmiw

Looks like it's about what I suspected: three party networks are exempt. From this:

That said, you'd think AmEx would want to be at least remotely in the same ballpark as Visa/MC for competitive reasons.

Gasolin

One thing I don't understand. In a 4 party network, for the net interchange fees, I'm pretty sure the bank is paying VISA or MASTERCARD a fee and the sum of those fees is probably higher than the AMEX fee. How come the merchants don't feel that fee in their cost then? Is the bank just eating it somehow?

tmiw

IIRC the networks take a cut out of the fee that the issuing bank gets, which is very small relative to the total interchange fee. AmEx, on the other hand, gets to keep all of it since they're both the network and the issuing bank (with a few exceptions).

Gig103

My sample size of one is I had to pay that 2.5% fee to use my Amex at the Four Seasons Sydney in 2016. It wasn't because it was Amex though, it was because I had a foreign card.

Mwenenzi

Was that a forex fee from Amex or added to the Four Seasons bill?
It does tend to be the higher end vendors that charge fee.
And some business, like airlines & hotels, that would have a very high % of credit card transactions (vs cash).
Vendors must offer a way to pay without a cc surcharge (pay the advertised price)

Gig103

No, it was like the photo posted by Vasco - they added a 2.5% card fee to the bill. And not that I had that kind of cash on hand but my FHR booking required the use of an Amex so there was no avoiding it.