Does American Express (Amex) card work in India?

28 Apr 2023

The answer is Yes. Amex is working in India. To qualify for an American Express credit card in India, you must have good to excellent credit. 

The Indian government has lifted business restrictions on American Express, allowing the company to re-enter the South Asian market after demonstrating "satisfactory compliance" with local data storage rules, the local central bank announced on August 24, 2022.

The Reserve Bank of India barred Mastercard, American Express, and Diners Club from issuing new debit, credit, or prepaid cards to customers in a series of moves last year due to non-compliance with local data storage rules (PDF). The business restrictions allowed the companies to continue serving their current customers in the country. In June of this year, India lifted the ban on Mastercard.

The resumption of American Express' business in India should help local banks and fintech companies that have been able to offer customers debit and credit cards powered by Visa and Rupay, a homegrown card network promoted by the National Payments Corporation of India, for over a year.

Last year, many banks were caught off guard by the global card giants' business restrictions. RBL Bank, for example, rushed to switch to Visa and took weeks to complete the process.