American Express today announced that its Cards are now accepted at more than 190 million Merchant locations worldwide, an increase of approximately 20 million locations this year. The number of Amex-accepting Merchant locations outside the U.S. has more than doubled over the last four years. This growth reflects ongoing momentum in the company’s global acceptance strategy, driven by key partnerships, targeted expansion in the places Card Members live, work, and travel, and continued innovation in how customers pay.
“This milestone reflects decades of investment in expanding our global network so we can serve more Merchants around the world and connect them with our high-spending Card Members,” said Anna Marrs, group president, global merchant & network services, American Express.
Marrs continued, “Our approach is very deliberate: we’re focused on adding acceptance in the cities and categories where our Card Members want to spend. By combining our own acquiring capabilities with strong bank, fintech, and payment facilitator partnerships, we’re able to reach and serve more Merchants of all sizes—helping them grow their businesses while giving Card Members more places to confidently use Amex around the world.”
Expanding through partnerships
American Express continues to deepen relationships with global payment platforms, payment facilitators, licensed partners, and local acquirers to expand acceptance at scale. This includes relationships with major global partners such as Adyen as well as regional and local partners, including Mercado Pago in Mexico and Argentina and Dojo in the UK. American Express is also expanding how Card Members can pay through digital wallets and other digital payment capabilities—for example, through partnerships such as Alipay in China.
Building scale in priority cities
American Express is strengthening acceptance in locations where Card Members spend their time, making significant progress over the past year in priority cities around the world, including travel destinations like Barcelona, Hong Kong, Paris, and Sicily. More broadly, since 2021, the company has seen significant gains, including strong acceptance growth across the Caribbean, doubling locations in Canada, Japan, and Mexico, tripling locations across Europe, including in the UK and France, and quadrupling locations in Singapore. The company has also built strong coverage in cities that draw Card Members for major global sporting events, such as Melbourne, Mexico City, and Vancouver.
Growing in the categories Card Members value
American Express is increasing acceptance in categories that are an important part of Card Members’ everyday spending and travel experiences. Since 2021, the company has delivered double-digit growth in international restaurant acceptance, while American Express Cards are also accepted across all major European airlines and the vast majority of 4- and 5-star hotels globally. In addition, American Express is now accepted at an estimated 800 or more transit authorities worldwide, including major transit networks in Beijing, London, New York, Paris, Singapore, Tokyo, and Toronto.
For Merchants, this expanding network provides greater access to American Express’ premium, high-spending customer base. Average annual spending on American Express Cards in the U.S. is three times that of cards on other networks.[3] For Card Members, it means more opportunities to use their Cards at home and while traveling. This international growth builds on American Express’ virtual parity acceptance in the U.S., where Amex has been accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards since the end of 2019.
