ENHANCED COVERAGE BY ADDING NEARLY 1,80,000 NEW MERCHANTS*
– PARTNERSHIPS DROVE GROWTH IN NEW MERCHANT ADOPTIONS ACROSS TIER II
MARKETS AND DESTINATION CITIES
New Delhi, June 06, 2018: American Express, the world’s largest card
issuer by purchase volume and the largest integrated payments platform,
has aggressively expanded its merchant coverage in India averaging 500
new merchant sign-ups per day across the country in 2017.
According to ANURAG GUPTA, VICE PRESIDENT & HEAD, GLOBAL MERCHANT
SERVICES, AMERICAN EXPRESS “_We observed huge__ growth opportunity
beyond the four metros and in the past year our focus has been to
capitalize upon this. I am very happy to share that in 2017 we added
nearly __1,80,000 merchants accepting American Express cards*. We have
now have significantly improved our acceptance in categories that our
Card-members spend in, such as restaurants, retail outlets, healthcare
providers, hotels and fuel stations. __We have received positive
feedback from our Card members on enhanced acceptance and are exploring
newer partnerships and innovative payment solutions to continue this
pace of new merchant acquisition.” ___
American Express is focusing on driving adoption across small merchants
who cater to everyday spending. It will now also be accepted at the
Canteen Stores Department (CSD), a Government of India Enterprise with
over 3,500 Unit-run Canteens in all major military bases operated by the
Indian Armed Forces. Commenting on this, ANURAG SAID, “_CSD is the
largest retail chain in India, selling a wide variety of products across
categories. We are thrilled to be accepted at CSD through State Bank of
India (SBI) and look forward to serving over 3 million defence personnel
across India.”_
Tie-ups with ICICI and SBI have resulted in significant growth in
merchant base for American Express. The card is widely accepted across
major online portals and aggregators. Speaking on this, ANURAG ADDED,
_”Payment innovations such as Bharat QR and partnerships with ICICI and
SBI drove growth in new merchant adoptions across major cities and
destination markets. With 46% growth (YTD) in merchant terminals
accepting Amex, we are among the fastest-growing networks in the market.
Our merchant coverage has grown by almost 3x in the past five years.”_
American Express drives higher returns for merchants as its premium card
members spend three times higher than industry average. The company is
also a global and country leader in the Corporate spends category. As
American Express partners, merchants enjoy many benefits including free
fire and theft insurance, priority servicing, standardized
product-agnostic fee structure, besides other value added services.]
Corporate Comm India(CCI Newswire)
