Using Amex at Post office

dusty-sleeves

I'm a small business owner/online retailer and for convenience I use the Post Office's Drop & Go Service which utilizes a card which I top up at the post office & they do the rest, taking the cost of postage from the card balance. Incidentally & annoyingly they haven't yet introduced online top up so it's currently more like a drop & que Service unless you're brave enough to keep a hefty balance on the card.
My question. . .
I have an amex BA card which gains Avios points which I'd very much like to use at the Post office to top up my Drop & Go account & thus gain the points. I spend approx £500 a week at the Post office & these points would soon build up. However my local Post Office does NOT accept Amex.
Is this a branch decision.. meaning, are there Post office branches that do accept Amex or is it a rule that they all don't?
Any knowledgeable answers or ways around this without applying for more cards would be appreciated ...

planteria

i am an Amex cardholder, and go through stages of using the Post Office a lot too...unfortunately they don't accept Amex. i don't think you will find a Post Office that does. but i will be interested if someone else says that they know of one.
i have a CapOne Elite card alongside Amex, so this is what i will be using in the Post Office.
and i wasn't aware of the card system you mention...in effect i have an 'account' with the post office, in that they let me run up a debt and clear it once/month. perhaps a more formal equivalent to this has been introduced.

Aquamania

dusty-sleeves wrote: »

I'm a small business owner/online retailer and for convenience I use the Post Office's Drop & Go Service which utilizes a card which I top up at the post office & they do the rest, taking the cost of postage from the card balance. Incidentally & annoyingly they haven't yet introduced online top up so it's currently more like a drop & que Service unless you're brave enough to keep a hefty balance on the card.
My question. . .
I have an amex BA card which gains Avios points which I'd very much like to use at the Post office to top up my Drop & Go account & thus gain the points. I spend approx £500 a week at the Post office & these points would soon build up. However my local Post Office does NOT accept Amex.
Is this a branch decision.. meaning, are there Post office branches that do accept Amex or is it a rule that they all don't?
Any knowledgeable answers or ways around this without applying for more cards would be appreciated ...

Unfortunately, the main drawback of American Express is that it is not widely accepted in the UK (or even Europe)

There's a huge thread here on merchants that do/don't accept Amex in the UK
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/469

There's no mention in the MSE article linked to in the OP (supposed to be a full list of merchants that do accept Amex, as provided by Amex) of the post office accepting Amex, sorry.

It doesn't look like their online shop does either (although that doesn't necessarily imply they won't in store)

reclusive46

It is dependent on the post office, one of the post offices near me takes it but another one doesn't. Some don't take credit cards at all.

System

The only two workarounds for Amex non-acceptance are:

1. Using PayPal (as they accept it as funding source)
2. Buying gift vouchers at a retailer that does accept Amex for use at one that doesn't.

You'll find that many UK Amex issuers issue a linked Visa or MasterCard due to acceptance gaps.

InsideInsurance

Heng_Leng wrote: »

You'll find that many UK Amex issuers issue a linked Visa or MasterCard due to acceptance gaps.

Other than AmEx themselves and the OP says they have a BA card which is issued by AmEx.


As others have said, as many post offices are independent businesses they are free to decide what cards, if any, they want to accept and so acceptance is variable. If may be worth checking if any other post office that you routinely go near do accept AmEx and use them to top up the account.

garth549

Amex charge crazy commission on transactions for retailers. That's the reason all but the big retailers don't accept them.

One guy I spoke to said they quoted him 9%!!! Obviously he told them to get stuffed.

InsideInsurance

garth549 wrote: »

Amex charge crazy commission on transactions for retailers. That's the reason all but the big retailers don't accept them.

One guy I spoke to said they quoted him 9%!!! Obviously he told them to get stuffed.

Those are long ago days, they are still higher than other networks but its much closer now, and often the same as the likes of Mastercard World or Visa Signature cards - hence super prime cards using them as an alternative.

Last time I did a cards project Amex was about 0.25% more than Visa or Master card and 0.1% less than Mastercard World - there were no issuers of Visa Signature cards in the UK at the time so they didnt come up.

SagePay currently charge 1.9% for AmEx card payments -v- 1.99% for Visa and Mastercard for internet transactions, for telephone ones their AmEx rate is even cheaper in comparison to the others.