Can you use an American Express (Amex) credit card in the UK?

24 Apr 2023

Indeed, you can use an American Express card in the UK. While American Express cards are more commonly accepted in the US than in the UK, major retailers, restaurants, and grocery store chains in the UK do typically welcome them. Nonetheless, it can be challenging to find smaller merchants accepting this form of payment.

It is important to note that accepting card payments incurs processing fees, which applies to American Express cards. These fees vary depending on the service, but they can include 

• Transaction fees (usually a percentage of each transaction)
• Merchant service fee
• Fees for credit card processing
• Terminal lease/purchase
• Setup costs
• Fees for chargebacks
• Bank fees for businesses (typically a fixed amount per transaction)
• Fees for international transactions

Amex has the highest credit card processing fees compared to other card issuers. However, this may be due to the fact that people in the UK rarely carry an Amex card, opting for Mastercard or Visa instead.

Which merchants accept Amex in the United Kingdom?

More than 35,000 retailers in the United Kingdom presently welcome American Express cards as a mode of payment. The following are the most significant locations to take note of, as they are the places where you are likely to spend the majority of your money:

• Almost all major supermarket chains (including Lidl, Aldi, Morrisons, Ocado, and Iceland);
• Almost all restaurants, including Nando's and Domino's, and most independents accept American Express;
• Uber, Uber Eats, Just Eat, and Deliveroo;
• All Bar One, Greene King, and Wetherspoons pubs;
• Petrol stations;
• Train travel (London Underground, National Rail, Eurostar);
• Most major airlines, even low-cost carriers like EasyJet and Ryanair;
• The Post Office;
• Major high street retailers;
• Amazon;
• Argos;
• B&Q;
• Lego;
• Boots;
• Some utility providers, including Bulb and Octopus Energy;
• eBay;
• Poundland;
• Subscriptions (like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Spotify); and
• Almost everywhere else online (if they don't accept Amex, use an Amex linked to a Paypal account where possible).

Read more:

Types of payment gateway.

Benefits of online payment gateway.

American Express (Amex) payment gateway.