When American Express Card (Amex) holders wish to transfer money to MoneyGram through the BiyaPay platform, they usually encounter the core issue of channel restrictions. According to the service terms announcement of the BiyaPay platform for the second quarter of 2024, the credit card issuing organizations it supports clearly exclude American Express and only allow Visa and Mastercard online transactions, with a coverage rate reaching 95% of its payment channels. Meanwhile, MoneyGram, a well-established remittance service provider with over 350,000 offline outlets worldwide (data from MoneyGram’s 2023 annual report), although it supports direct payments via debit cards or bank accounts in approximately 75% of countries around the world, However, the scope of its online system’s access to credit card organizations is limited by strict merchant agreements and the cost of clearing and exchange fees as high as 2.5% to 3%. Industry reports indicate that American Express cards are often excluded from cross-border transfer services due to their average merchant discount rate (MDR) of 1.8% to 2.5%, which is higher than Visa/Mastercard’s 1.5% to 2.0%, in order to control channel costs.
In actual operation, attempting to connect will lead to transaction failure. In 2023, multiple users reported on the BiyaPay community forum that when using Amex cards to make MoneyGram remittances, they were refused payment by the instant system. The error code displayed as “Payment method not supported” accounted for as high as 98%. This is because BiyaPay’s technology access protocol only integrates the payment gateway apis of Visa and Mastercard, covering 89% of their total transaction volume. However, does moneygram accept amex card payment is only available in its specific partner merchant scenarios (such as offline agents or web pages in some countries). Visa’s 2024 Cross-border payment report indicates that the average acceptance rate of Amex cards on global digital remittance platforms is approximately 35%, significantly lower than that of Visa cards at 92%.
Even on the MoneyGram direct channel, the use of Amex is not universally applicable. MoneyGram’s official website clearly states that currently, it only accepts Amex payment for offline withdrawals and remittances on its online platforms in about 15 major countries (accounting for 30% of its service area), including the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The transaction limit for a single transaction is always set at $2,500, and the exchange rate markup may be 0.5% to 1.2% higher than that of bank accounts. For instance, on the MoneyGram online platform in the United States, if users choose Amex for payment, they need to pay an additional fixed handling fee of $3.99, plus the standard international transaction fee of 1.5% to 3% for credit cards. In contrast, initiating a remittance through an associated bank ACH transfer can reduce the total cost by 60%, which is also the low-cost option recommended by the 2024 Federal Reserve Payments Research Report.
Therefore, American Express users are seeking more economical alternatives. Given that over 65% of MoneyGram transactions can be completed through bank accounts (ACH/SEPA), it is recommended that users prioritize recharging through local bank accounts supported by BiyaPay, which typically enjoy exclusive exchange rate discounts of 0.5% to 1%. For users without a bank account, the success rate of initiating transactions with prepaid cards or compatible debit cards can reach 99%. For instance, the payment cost with Visa or Mastercard debit cards is stable at around 2 US dollars. As a major competitor, Western Union’s data for the first quarter of 2024 shows that the acceptance rate of Amex cards on its online channel in the United States is 100%, but the average exchange rate spread has widened to 4%, partially offsets the convenience of the channel.
It is ultimately recommended that users must check the list of available card types in real time through the BiyaPay payment interface or bind their bank accounts first to avoid unnecessary payment failures and potential international transaction losses of about 3%. Platform data shows that for users who correctly choose the payment method, the transaction processing speed can be shortened to within 10 minutes, while for those who make incorrect attempts, the average processing time for refunds is 45 minutes.