What is American Express?
American Express is a card scheme and a card issuer in one. Visa and Mastercard run a network and leave the cards to banks; Amex issues most of its own cards, runs the network they travel on and signs up the shops that take them, which is why it calls its network closed-loop. At the end of 2025 it had 86.6 million cards of its own in force and 66.2 million issued by partner banks, and the spending on its own cards during the year came to $1,670 billion.
The company was founded in 1850 in New York as a freight-forwarding business, invented the Travelers Cheque in 1891 and issued its first card, the Personal Card, in 1958. Its head office is at 200 Vesey Street in lower Manhattan. In the United States the cards come from American Express National Bank, in the United Kingdom and in Europe from Amex companies of their own, and in about 110 countries and territories from banks that issue the brand under licence.
For a bettor the card has two problems that no other scheme has. The first is the merchant contract: the card-acceptance terms Amex signs with merchants in the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union say the merchant must not accept the Card for gambling services, online gambling included, so a bookmaker cannot simply add it to its cashier. The second is the kind of card: Amex cards are mostly charge or credit cards (the debit and prepaid versions exist in the United States), which means no gambling deposit at all in the United Kingdom or Australia and, in the United States, a deposit that Amex’s own agreement books as a cash advance.
What it costs
Three parties can charge you for an Amex deposit, and the scheme is the one that charges least. American Express takes nothing from the cardholder on a purchase; what you pay comes from the card agreement, which in the United States books a bet as a cash advance and adds a foreign transaction fee on most cards, and from the bookmaker, which rarely adds anything on card deposits. The table keeps the three apart.
What an American Express deposit costs
| Operation | Fee |
|---|
| Bookmaker fee on a card deposit | 0% at most bookmakers; the cashier shows any fee before you confirm |
| Scheme fee charged by American Express on a purchase | None |
| Cash advance on a US card (online betting counts as one) | $10 or 5% of the amount, whichever is greater, plus interest from the transaction date |
| Cash withdrawal on a UK card | 3% or £3, whichever is greater, with interest from the day; a gambling deposit is refused outright since 14 April 2020 |
| Foreign transaction fee, US cards | 2.7% of each transaction after conversion to US dollars; none on some cards |
| Non-sterling transaction fee, UK cards | 2.99% on every transaction, cash or purchase |
| Exchange rate | Amex’s own rate: in the US no more than the highest official rate published by a government agency on the processing date; in the UK an interbank rate from the business day before processing, with non-dollar currencies converted through the dollar |
| Refund of a deposit to the card | Free; Amex says most card refunds take 5 to 14 business days to process |
| Paying a bookmaker through PayPal with the card | Free on PayPal’s side |
| Apple Pay or Google Pay with the card | Free on the wallet’s side; the card’s own fees apply |
| SafeKey verification | Free, no enrolment needed |
Fees read on 19 October 2026 on the cardmember agreements of American Express National Bank (Classic Green Card, as of 20 August 2026; Morgan Stanley Blue Cash Preferred, as of 13 November 2025), on the UK help centre pages about transactions abroad and cash withdrawals, and on Amex’s article on card refunds (updated 6 August 2026). For UK and EU cards Amex publishes a comparison of its conversion charge with the European Central Bank rate, the FX-ECB comparison, which was not loading on the day we read it. Fees change by card and by country: read your own agreement.
If you must use the Amex, choose a no-fee card in the right currency
A $500 deposit on a US Amex credit card booked as a cash advance costs $25 before interest starts, and the same deposit billed in euros on a card with the foreign transaction fee adds another $13.50. A card without that fee, in the currency of your betting account, leaves the cash-advance fee as the only charge; a debit card behind the wallet avoids that one too.
Deposit and withdrawal times
Deposits are instant where a cashier or a wallet accepts the card: the authorisation comes back while SafeKey confirms it, and the money is on the betting account at once. Through PayPal the deposit is instant too, because PayPal charges the card and pays the bookmaker in the same step.
Withdrawals are the weak side. A bookmaker that took an Amex deposit can send it back as a refund to the card, and Amex’s own guidance says most card refunds take between five and 14 business days to process; anything above the amount deposited depends on whether the bookmaker’s payment provider can credit an Amex card, and where it cannot, the operator pays by bank transfer to an account in your name. Through PayPal the payout goes into the PayPal balance, not to the card, and from there to your bank; through Apple Pay or Google Pay the bookmaker refunds the card behind the wallet, identified by the last digits of its digital number.
Where you can use it
American Express was accepted at an estimated 160 million merchant locations worldwide in June 2025 and at more than 170 million by the end of the year, and at 99% of the places in the United States that take credit cards. The countries where most of the spending happens are the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Australia, Japan, Canada and Mexico. Bookmakers are the exception, and the rules below say why.
- Amex’s merchant terms. The card-acceptance terms a merchant signs in the United States (Merchant Reference Guide, October 2021), in the United Kingdom (March 2024) and in the European Union (the Danish terms of American Express Payments Europe, March 2024) all say the merchant must not accept the Card for “gambling services (including online gambling), gambling chips, gambling credits or lottery tickets”. The international merchant regulations list gambling, merchant codes 7800, 7801, 7802 and 7995, among the restricted industries open only with Amex’s written permission, government-licensed online casinos included. A bookmaker that shows the Amex logo needs that permission; none of the 65 reviewed on Betandlink lists the card.
- United Kingdom. Credit cards have been banned for gambling since 14 April 2020, and the Gambling Commission expects a bookmaker that takes an e-wallet to check that the money was not loaded from a credit card. An Amex credit card is therefore out, directly or through a wallet.
- Australia. Since 11 June 2024 online and telephone betting services may not take a credit card, “funds linked to a credit card (including digital wallets)” or digital currency; lotteries are exempt.
- United States. There is no ban, but the Amex cardmember agreements file “offline and online betting transactions” under cash advances: $10 or 5% of the amount, whichever is greater, and interest from the transaction date. A bookmaker licensed in your state can take the card only with Amex’s permission; which operators PayPal admits is explained on the PayPal page.
Elsewhere the rule is the one in the merchant terms of your country: where the local Amex company or partner bank uses the same clause, the card stays out of the cashier, and where an operator has Amex’s written permission it appears. The cashier is the only reliable check.
American Express and welcome bonuses
A card deposit, where it is taken at all
Card deposits normally qualify for welcome offers, and the bonus terms that exclude e-wallets such as Skrill and Neteller do not exclude Amex; the problem comes before the bonus, since no bookmaker in the data takes the card. Where you reach a bookmaker through PayPal, the PayPal clause of the bonus terms applies, and some operators exclude PayPal from the first-deposit offer. In the United Kingdom and Australia a credit card earns no bonus because the deposit itself is refused.
Bookmakers accepting American Express
None of the 65 bookmakers reviewed on Betandlink lists American Express in its cashier, and the reason is written in Amex’s own contracts rather than in the bookmakers’ choices. The card-acceptance terms a merchant signs in the United States, in the United Kingdom and in the European Union say the merchant must not accept the Card for “gambling services (including online gambling), gambling chips, gambling credits or lottery tickets”, and the international merchant regulations open gambling (merchant codes 7800, 7801, 7802 and 7995) only to merchants with Amex’s written permission. Two more rules close the door where the merchant terms leave it ajar: the credit-card bans for gambling in the United Kingdom (14 April 2020) and Australia (11 June 2024), and the US cardmember agreements, which book “offline and online betting transactions” as cash advances.
How to use it anyway
- PayPal. PayPal’s US help page lists American Express among the cards you can link, prepaid cards included, and PayPal’s UK site explains how to link an American Express card in the Wallet and spend Membership Rewards points at checkout. Paying a bookmaker from PayPal is free, the bookmaker sees only your e-mail address, and the payout comes back into the PayPal balance, from where a UK account moves it to a bank account for free. The limit is the bookmaker’s side: PayPal admits only operators it has approved, and in the United Kingdom they may not take money that comes from a credit card.
- Apple Pay. US consumer and small-business Amex credit and charge cards, the American Express Debit Card and the Serve prepaid card can be added to Wallet, and neither Apple nor Amex charges for it. The card still pays as an Amex card, online “wherever American Express Cards are accepted”, so the route works only at a bookmaker whose Apple Pay button takes the scheme; withdrawals go back to the card or by bank transfer.
- Google Pay. In the United Kingdom an eligible Amex card can be added to Google Pay (up to six cards on a device; the £1 check is not charged) and Amex says it never shares the card account details with Google. The same condition applies: the bookmaker’s Google Pay button must accept American Express, and the deposit remains a credit-card deposit, which no UK bookmaker may take.
- Skrill and Neteller. Not a route: Skrill’s fee page lists card loads by Visa and Mastercard only (1.25% for EU accounts) and Neteller’s by Visa, Mastercard, Maestro and Discover (2.5%); neither names American Express.
Buying something cash-like with the card to fund a bookmaker does not help either: the US cash-advance definition covers travelers cheques, gift cheques, foreign currency, money orders and digital currency as well as betting, so the $10 or 5% fee applies to the purchase just the same.
Questions and answers
Why does no bookmaker accept American Express?
Because Amex’s merchant terms forbid it. The card-acceptance agreements in the United States, the United Kingdom and the EU tell the merchant it must not accept the Card for gambling services, online gambling included, and the international regulations open gambling only to merchants with Amex’s written permission. None of the bookmakers reviewed on Betandlink lists the card.
Can I bet with an American Express card through PayPal?
Where PayPal takes the card and the bookmaker takes PayPal. PayPal’s US help page lists American Express among the cards you can link, prepaid cards included, and its UK site explains how to link an Amex card in the Wallet; paying a bookmaker from PayPal is free. A UK bookmaker may not take money that comes from a credit card, though, and PayPal admits only operators it has approved. Withdrawals go to the PayPal balance, not to the card.
Does Apple Pay or Google Pay get round the ban?
No. The wallet replaces the card number with a digital one, but the payment still runs as an American Express transaction, online wherever Amex cards are accepted, so the bookmaker’s wallet button must take the scheme. In the United Kingdom and Australia the deposit also stays a credit-card deposit, which is refused by law.
What does an American Express deposit cost?
Nothing from Amex as a scheme and usually nothing from the bookmaker. On a US card the agreement books an online bet as a cash advance, $10 or 5% of the amount whichever is greater, with interest from the transaction date, and most cards add 2.7% on a transaction in another currency; a UK card pays 2.99% on every non-sterling transaction. The exchange rate is Amex’s own, set on the processing date.
Can I withdraw winnings to an American Express card?
Only as a refund of what you deposited, where the bookmaker’s payment provider can credit an Amex card; Amex says most card refunds take five to 14 business days to process. Winnings above the deposit are paid by bank transfer when the card cannot receive them, and a payout made through PayPal lands in the PayPal balance.