Merchants who are looking to grow their business should consider American Express card acceptance.  That is because consumer spending on American Express credit cards is typically  much higher than on other types of credit cards, while the costs associated with accepting AmEx credit cards through an American Express merchant account are low.

Since American Express cardholders have greater incomes, they tend to spend more.  American Express cardholders are a high-earning group, with 45 percent of U.S. households that earn more than $50,000 annually carrying an AmEx card.  Additionally, cardmembers charge an average of 27 percent more with their American Express Card than their average spending on other credit cards.

With incentive programs like the Membership Rewards Program, cardholders are more likely to use their American Express credit card.  More than half of cardmembers enrolled in the Membership Rewards Program go out of their way to use the American Express Card. 

American Express cardholders are a loyal group.  According to Brookfield Research data from November 2005, 24 percent of American Express Cardmembers exclusively used AmEx in the past month and no other credit cards or charge cards.

But it's not only consumers who are ringing up charges on the American Express Card.  Businesses have also gotten into the act, with 1.7 million companies using the American Express Corporate Card for their business expenses.  That number includes nearly 70 percent of the Fortune 500 -- the list of the biggest corporations in the U.S.

Since American Express cardholders generate so much revenue for businesses, you might expect that accepting AmEx cards through American Express merchant accounts would be more costly than taking other credit cards.  But this is not the case.  In fact, businesses that accept American Express do not pay an annual fee, monthly minimums, an online application fee or third-party processing charges. 

Furthermore, American Express does not have a higher rate for manually keyed or business card transactions and there are no per transaction fees.  Therefore, for certain types of business, telephone and Internet commerce or small ticket merchants, pricing could be less than with MasterCard or Visa.   

American Express Card has two pricing plans, based on merchants' sales volumes.

Under the Monthly Flat Fee, merchants will be charged a monthly fee of $5.00 for AmEx instead of the standard discount rate.  Monthly Flat Fee is available for all merchants with an estimated volume up to $4,999.  Separately, for merchants whose charge volume tops $4,999 in any consecutive 12 months, pricing will automatically be adjusted to the standard discount rate applicable.   

Regardless of whether you decide to buy, lease, rent a terminal, or process transactions via phone, computer or on your Web site, American Express Card acceptance will mean greater business and lower costs.