Amex Express Checkout: A Better Way to Pay Online

» Amex Express Checkout is no longer offered

In 2020, Amex Express Checkout transitioned to "Click to Pay," a unified digital payments service jointly developed by Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express. As a result, this story is out of date. For updated information, see our story about "Click to Pay."

American Express is rolling out Amex Express Checkout, a service that lets you complete your purchases at participating online retailers by using your American Express account login.

When you shop online, there's usually no easy way to enter your credit card information if it's not already saved on your computer to autofill. And whether you save it or not, the information you enter is stored on the merchant's servers, making it vulnerable to hackers.

Amex Express Checkout aims to solve those problems, and for a limited time, American Express is offering a cash incentive to try it out.

How it works

When you're ready to pay at one of Amex Express Checkout's participating online merchants, you'll have the choice to use your American Express login. Not only does this shorten the process by eliminating the need to type out all your credit card information, but it also keeps your card off the merchant's servers — and your data safe from hackers.

As of July 2015, participating retailers include BarkBox, Burberry, Ledbury, Newegg, Sabon, Ticketmaster, Warby Parker and The Wall Street Journal.

American Express plans to add other merchants in the coming months, including Avis Car Rental, Banana Republic, Cole Haan, Hulu, Gap, Intermix, Old Navy, POPSUGAR Must Have, Rocketmiles and 1-800-FLOWERS.com.

What sets Amex Express Checkout apart

American Express isn't the first to introduce a fast, secure checkout solution. MasterCard launched MasterPass in 2013, and Visa followed with Visa Checkout in 2014.

But American Express's advantage is that it's both a payment network and a credit card issuer. That means you don't have to set up a separate account and add all your eligible cards. You just enter your American Express login information, and Amex Express Checkout will save you time by autofilling your card details.

Try it and get a statement credit

For a limited time, American Express is offering a one-time $10 statement credit per merchant when customers use Amex Express Checkout. Consumer and small business credit cards, as well as charge cards, are eligible for this offer. Credits will appear on your statement within 90 days of Sept. 7, 2015, when the offer ends.