Benefits of American Express Deposits
For high stakes poker players, Amex handles larger transactions than Visa or MasterCard. If you’re a high roller who wants to max out deposit limits, American Express is the best card. With a wide range of customer resources and helpful tools like Global Assist® Hotline, ExpenseIt® Pro from Concur App, and TripCase® (for US and UK players), Amex provides unmatched advantages for its cardholders.
American Express’s Green Debit Card provides comparable benefits to Visa Electron and MasterCard Maestro. Most poker sites which accept American Express credit card also accept the Amex Green Debit Card. Those who prefer reloadable prepaid cards should consider American Express Serve, which has free reloads and 1% cashback on all payments.
How to Use American Express at the Best Poker Sites:
Those new to the online poker community might wonder how to make an American Express poker deposit. Read the step-by-step guide below to cover the basics of Amex poker deposits. Each site is different, so you might encounter a slightly different setup on your chosen card site.
Deposits – Funding your online poker account with American Express works similarly to how you would do so with another company’s card, whether you’re using a charge, credit or pre-paid debit card.
- First, you’ll need to create an account with an Amex accepted online poker site. If you’ve already done so, log onto your account, then skip to step #3.
- Click the “New Account” or “Create Account” link. Enter in the requested information, like email address and password. Before the account setup is complete you should be given an option to deposit money into your account. If so, continue on to step #5. If not, onto #3.
- Select the “Cashier” or “Banking” link.
- Select the “Deposit” link or tab.
- Review the deposit options and select “Credit Card”, or “American Express” if it’s listed separately.
- Enter your card information in the provided fields.
- Before typing in your deposit amount, consider:
- The balance or limit on your card.
- Minimum deposit requirements enforced by the poker.
- Enter your deposit amount.
- Review the poker room’s Terms and Conditions document. When you are finished, and if you agree to the rules, click the Accept button or check box.
- Payment from American Express to the poker site should occur almost instantly upon processing.
- Once your balance updates with your deposit, you’re good to go.
Withdrawals – With products such as charge and credit cards, American Express may not be offered as a cashout option for online poker sites. If it’s not available, then you may instead choose to have the money sent to your bank account, or if you want to keep that information private you can use an online payment transfer service like PayPal or Skrill.
Keeping Your Account Secure
Here are some tips for using your American Express cards safely:
- Only enter your card information into the site’s secure payment fields.
- If you are concerned about a site’s security, don’t provide any financial information.
- Never reply to an email that asks for your card number.
- Don’t share your card with anyone other than an authorized user.
- Don’t complete any online financial transactions while connected to an unsecured public wireless network.
- Report all unusual charges to American Express immediately.
Types of American Express cards
Charge Cards – Charge cards, American Express’s original point of entry into the card business, have no spending limits, but balances must be paid off by month’s end. Applications are available for three charge cards, though they entail a hard inquiry into your credit history. These cards, in increasing order of their fees and benefits, are: Green, Gold and Platinum. An invitation-only Centurian (Black) card is available only to those individuals who regularly charge six-figures a year while maintaining excellent credit.
Credit Cards – In 1987, American Express released its first credit card. Today, the company offers sixteen credit cards on their site alone. Some have no annual fee and offer limited benefits. Others carry larger fees while providing broader benefit programs. These programs include a “cash” scheme that pays out as statement credit, travel rewards (currently with Delta SkyMiles or Hilton Honors) and Membership Rewards Points to spend on a variety of offers.
Pre-Paid Debit Cards – American Express has recently entered the pre-paid debit card business with their Serve cards. These function like regular debit cards, and can be reloaded with direct deposits, but require no connection to a bank account.
Advantages to using American Express
American Express cardholders enjoy these benefits:
- Customer service: American Express has ranked first or second in credit card customer service surveys for the past decade. They also finished first in “Best problem resolution” in a 2016 JD Power survey.
- Quick adoption of advanced technology: The company was one of the first to join up with Apple Pay. They also introduced ExpressPay in 2005, two years before Visa unveiled their own contactless payment system.
- Purchase protection: American Express provides generous long term purchase and refund protection plans, as well as extended warranties.
- Exclusive offers: They team up with retailers, restaurants and events to provide great deals for cardholders.
- Rewards programs: Travel programs deliver benefits from airlines and hotel chains, while cash back benefits help to pay back your balance quicker.
The Busy History of American Express
Created as an express mail and transportation company, American Express opened for business in 1850. Because its services were originally exclusive to the East Coast, two of its owners Henry Wells and William G. Fargo started a second business to serve the West Coast, called Wells Fargo. With time, American Express made deals with other transportation companies so that their service stretched across the country.
In 1882, American Express branched out into financial services with a money order enterprise that was designed to wrestle a piece of that marketplace from the United States Postal Service. They then introduced Traveller’s Cheques for Americans traveling internationally, in 1891.
When the United States consolidated the nation’s railroad lines in 1917, in order to expedite troop and coal transport, American Express’s railroad express business ended.
Inspired by the success of Diners Club, American Express issued its first charge card in 1958. In 1959, they were the first company to issue standard-sized plastic cards rather than paper models. By 1963 there were over a million American Express cardholders going to 85,000 merchants who accepted it as a form of payment. The Gold and Platinum cards were introduced in 1966 and 1984, respectively, as a way to target different markets. In 1987, they brought out the Optima, their first credit card.
Along the way, American Express got deeply involved in the investment banking field, but after letting go of Lehman Brothers in 1994, card services became their main business.
American Express Versus Those Other Card Companies
As referenced above, American Express was originally only in the “charge” side of the card business, but after 30 years they entered the credit card market.
Since then, American Express has kept a different business model than Visa or MasterCard. Rather than focusing their revenue stream on getting interest payments from their customers, American Express makes its money from their customers’ card fees and merchant swipe fees. Retailers are charged 50% more (or 3 points versus 2) for American Express transactions compared to other card issuers.
But American Express card customers tend to be wealthier than other cardholders, and they spend a lot more money too. Thus American Express has financially attractive customers which is why merchants will accept that extra 1%.
Most Frequently Asked Questions
1. Will I receive American Express reward points when funding a poker account with my card?
Yes! Once a poker deposit posts to your American Express account it will count as a standard purchase towards your reward scheme.
2. Am I eligible for the poker site’s welcome bonus if I fund my account with an American Express card?
Absolutely! Be sure to review the terms and conditions of the welcome bonus because some sites will have restrictions regarding its usage.
3. Are there any fees for using my card to make poker deposits?
The Internet poker room will not charge a fee for your deposit, nor will American Express charge you for the transaction.
4. Are there restrictions on how much I can deposit?
Every poker site online has minimum and maximum deposit restrictions. Please review these before funding your account. Your American Express charge card does not have a spending limit. A credit card will have a credit limit, and a pre-paid debit card can only deposit up to its balance.
5. When can I start playing?
American Express transactions are secure and fast. So, depending on the poker website, your deposit should hit your account almost instantly.
6. How do I find a site accepting American Express?
Your best option is to do a bit of research and read reviews. Just like retailers, not all poker sites will accept American Express. We’ve listed the best Amex accepted poker rooms above, but you can also do a google search for “Amex poker sites” if you want to look for different poker rooms accepting Amex payments.
7. How do I know my card information is safe?
Online poker has had its fair share of rogue operators. To keep yourself safe you’ll want to make sure that the site you choose is encrypted with an SSL and is backed by one of the main licensing providers. Onlinepoker.net only lists reputable poker rooms. We receive feedback from players like you and from there decide which sites receive what listings – if any. If you’ve had issues with any of the sites listed on our site, please feel free to email us here.
8. Why don’t more sites accept Amex payments?
Amex isn’t as universally accepted by retailers as say Visa or Mastercard and the same is true for online poker sites. There are very few sites that accept this as viable deposit option and for US players, that list is even shorter. We don’t have an explanation as to why, but we have listed the best options above.
9. Can I withdraw my money back to my Amex card?
Unfortunately, no. For players using credit cards, you’ll have to request a bank wire, check or use one of the money transfer services such as Western Union / Moneygram. Payments might take a bit longer but no more than a week top.