American Express members can add card to Apple Pay after approval

American Express on Monday introduced an Apple Pay provisioning feature that allows new members to add their card to Apple Wallet immediately after approval.

With the new integration in place, users can seamlessly add an American Express Card to Apple Pay at the time of application. If approved, members are able to add their card to Wallet for use with apps, web purchases and in stores.

The feature builds on Amex's Instant Card Number system that enables users to add a card number to Wallet prior to receiving a physical card in the mail. Unlike the largely automated provisioning process launched today, Instant Card Number requires manual input of card credentials prior to use.

Card provisioning also affords immediate access to membership benefits like earning rewards on purchases.

Available to U.S. customers, Apple Pay provisioning can be performed from AmericanExpress.com for new consumer cards at the time of the application decision, according to American Express.

American Express has a long history with Apple Pay and is consistently among the first major credit card companies to offer compatibility when Apple's service launches in new countries. That early adopter status continues with immediate card provisioning in Wallet, which until today has been limited to Apple Card.

7 Comments

dutchlord 274 comments · 7 Years

About 4 years ago

Not important as I prefer to use Paypal with my Amex connected

PetrolDave 59 comments · 7 Years

I used to have an Amex company card, but as so few retailers in the UK will accept Amex it was useless so I gave it back. Amex need to sort out their retailer fees before this is of any use.

22july2013 3725 comments · 11 Years

PetrolDave said:

I used to have an Amex company card, but as so few retailers in the UK will accept Amex it was useless so I gave it back. Amex need to sort out their retailer fees before this is of any use.

Yes, the retailer fees are usually a little higher for Amex, but the situation is really a lot more complex than just that. There's actually a separate reason, outside of fees, that retailers don't take Amex. That's because Amex is not a credit card - it's a charge card. The main difference is that with credit cards the retailers sees the money in the bank as soon as you complete the transaction - even though the consumer hasn't paid the credit card company yet. By contrast, a charge card delivers the money to the retailer only after the charge card company receives payment from the purchaser. That's could mean over a month delay before the retailer sees the payment.

Amex offers small businesses a way to pay 0% on each transaction, but then they have to pay Amex $8/month, and the retailer's Amex sales have to be under $60,000/year. That works out to about 0.16% retailer fees, which is lower than Visa or MC. So you see, it's not the retailer fees that scare retailers, it's the month-long delay to receive their money.

pmc 9 comments · 6 Years

This is actual BS. Do not listen.

22july2013 said:

. By contrast, a charge card delivers the money to the retailer only after the charge card company receives payment from the purchaser. That's could mean over a month delay before the retailer sees the payment.