American Express OptBlue

Great low Amex rates, fast funding, no monthly fees

American Express: OptBlue

American Express is now much easier to accept. Unlike the old days where you needed to work with American Express directly (and pay high fees!), now accepting Amex transactions happens just like Visa/MasterCard. Your new VizyPay account will automatically include American Express OptBlue acceptance, with no additional monthly fees. Your American Express deposits will fund with all other card types, in a regular funding schedule, and all fees will show up on your regular merchant statement.

As always, VizyPay adds a constant margin onto our costs, and always shares all underlying rates and fees. VizyPay’s margin on American Express transactions is dependent on which plan you sign up for (Virtual,Storefront,or Mini Merchant). Below are the different American Express rates that you’ll pay – just find your business category, and see the rate for each transaction size. These rates are “final rates” and include all American Express costs, network fees, and VizyPay margins.

American Express fees to merchants. Please note:American Express still passes along additional fees for certain types of processing. VizyPay always passes these fees through at cost, with no markup:

  1. Card-Not-Present Surcharge: American Express will add 0.30% to all “Card-Not-Present” transactions
  2. International Surcharge: American Express will add 0.40% to all international sales
  3. Below is based off of our "Retail/Storefront Rates" .35% + $0.10 and includes Dues and Assessments as well as interchange.

How does VizyPay’s OptBlue offering differ from prior American Express acceptance?

Reduction of fees, up to 62%
Funding times sooner
Support from the same dependable staff
No additional monthly costs

Retail Merchants

Retail merchants sell directly to consumers through a storefront location or through a website. If you sell directly to consumers, you’ll likely be classified as a “retail” merchant. The list is long, but common categories include clothing, jewelry, books, hardware, grocery, computer, furniture, auto supplies, and cosmetics. If you sell goods to consumers, chances are you’ll be classified as “retail”.

Restaurant Merchants

Restaurant merchants sell food/drinks directly to consumers through a storefront location. If you’re selling wholesale restaurant supplies, your business would be classified as “Business to Business”. Caterers, fast-food restaurants, and bars/nightclubs will all be classified as restaurants.

Business-to-Business (Wholesale)

Business-to-Business (B2B) merchants sell directly to other businesses, (as opposed to consumers) and typically will be manually entering transactions into a terminal or virtual terminal. Common merchant types are contractors, accounting/consulting services, equipment rentals, insurance sales, and other business services.

Healthcare

Healthcare merchants are typically doctors/dentist’s offices, pharmacies, or other healthcare-related businesses that work directly in the healthcare field. Common examples are chiropractors, opticians, hospitals, podiatrists, and optometrists.

Non-Profits/Other

Non profits who are registered with the IRS as tax exempt will receive the below rates. In addition, these rates are granted to schools, transportation merchants, petroleum/fuel merchants, bus lines and limousines, and government service merchants.

Services / Professional Services

Service merchants include many different types of merchants, but typically if you’re providing a service, you’ll be classified as a “services” merchant. Common merchant types include veterinary offices, auto body repair, car washes, towing, tourist attractions, health and beauty spas, public utilities, barber shops, and photography merchants.

Travel and Entertainment

The travel and entertainment category will encompass lodging merchants, amusement parks, campgrounds, and recreational service merchants.