Information about American Express casinos
American Express, or Amex, is a multinational banking corporation famous for its card services and traveler's cheques. Like all major banks, Amex includes online payments among its range of facilities, and customers can use the famous card to pay for goods and services on many websites.
A wide range of online casinos also accept Amex as a payment method. On this page, you'll read about the pros and cons of its service, how to find the best Amex casino for you and how to use it in that casino, and also information about bonuses offered by Amex casinos.
Amex: one of the most valuable financial brands in the world
Amex is one of the most recognized financial brands in the world, boasting millions of customers and offices on every continent. But the company didn't actually start off in the finance industry.
Three American entrepreneurs, Messrs Fargo, Wells and Butterfield, merged their businesses to create an express mail company in 1850, hence the name American Express. Enjoying a virtual monopoly in that field, they expanded into financial services by launching a money order business seven years later; issuing money orders — a kind of old-fashioned prepaid card — on behalf of their customers.
Amex forged an international presence around the turn of the 20th century through its revolutionary traveler's cheques. These allowed Americans to withdraw cash abroad and were even used by military personnel during the First World War.
The 1950s saw Amex become the first major issuer to introduce a plastic card, a predecessor to today's credit cards. These allowed customers to purchase goods on credit, with the amount to be paid back with interest.
The company embraced the digital age in 1995, forming ExpressNet, an early variant of today's website. Card members could check their accounts online, pay their bills electronically and even enroll in special rewards programs.
Today, a huge number of users around the world use Amex online every day, with over a hundred million active credit cards. The company is one of the biggest issuers around and will likely continue to be so for years to come.
Pros and cons of Amex
Amex's status as a leading supplier is underlined by the excellent security measures it has in place. The company uses sophisticated software and goes to great lengths to protect its users, employing authenticity checks and encryption for online purchases.
The payment method is also widely available online, more so than most other credit providers. Amex users can buy pretty much anything they want with their card, and it's easy to withdraw money in a foreign country. What's more, there is a great rewards system in place, so customers often enjoy discounts on shopping and travel via a points-based system.
Note: It's extremely easy to make an Amex online payment: the Amex app, available on iOS and Android, allows clients to make payments in just a few taps on a keyboard or phone screen. This is a far cry from early internet payments and gives the customer a lot of freedom.
That said, Amex's ease of use may not always be such a great thing. The very nature of credit cards - providing goods or services up front that can be paid for later - can lead users into a false sense of security. Spending electronic money is very different to handing over cash: we can easily lose track of how much we spend, not to mention the interest that can accumulate on top of it. Users should always exercise caution when using credit cards like Amex online, especially when trying to gamble safely.
In light of these problems, several national governments have banned the use of credit cards on gambling sites, such as online casinos. American and British users, for example, may have difficulty using Amex to make casino deposits, so this is also worth bearing in mind.
How to use Amex in an online casino
If you have an Amex account, then it's possible that you'll be able to deposit funds into an online casino. The first thing to do is to take a few minutes to open an account at your chosen casino where you'll have to provide some basic personal information.
Once done, you'll then have to insert funds to start playing. Go to the casino's cashier and choose 'American Express' or 'Amex' as a payment method. You'll then have to type in your Amex card details (card number and expiry date) and the amount you wish to deposit. Finally, you'll need to pass Amex's security measures to complete the transfer: your funds should appear in your account immediately after.
Note: Being a credit card, Amex does allow larger deposits than many providers if there are funds remaining in the user's credit facility. It's worth bearing in mind that just because the card allows the payment of a large deposit, it doesn't mean it's wise to do so. Our responsible gambling guide has some useful tools, such as setting deposit limits, that can help with this.
As is often the case, withdrawing funds is a little trickier. The chances of you doing this very much depends on the Amex casino in question, so check with them before you sign up if this is essential to you. For those casinos that do allow it, there may be extra charges involved and it normally takes several days for funds to arrive in your account. If Amex withdrawals are not possible with your casino, then you will have to use another payment method to get your funds.
Finding the best Amex casino for you
With the large number of Amex casinos available to play online, it's good to know how to find the ones to trust. This page will help you do that with Casino Guru's review and ratings system giving you important information about each Amex online casino.
You can also use the filters on here to narrow down the selection. Our 'Recommended' tab, for example, will give you the highest-rated Amex casinos when selected. These are the pick of the bunch, according to our team of experts.
If you'd like the newest Amex casinos around, then simply select our 'Newly opened' tab to get those. The 'All' tab, meanwhile, will give you the full list of sites that accept Amex deposits.
Finding Amex casino bonuses
Casino bonuses are a great way to find out more about your chosen Amex casino and get something extra, and you can find deposit bonuses, or no deposit bonuses, using our system.
Choosing 'Amex' in the payment method filter on our list of casino bonuses will give you the full list of bonuses offered by Amex casinos. You can filter through these, too, so selecting 'No Deposit Bonus' on the list, for example, will give you all the no deposit bonuses on offer at Amex casinos. Or you can go to our list of no deposit bonuses and choose 'Amex' there.
You'll always get the most relevant options for either search thanks to our team's continuous work in keeping them up to date.
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