American Express Co. has signed another processing and acquiring agreement aimed at boosting acceptance among small and midsize merchants, its third such deal in a month.
The New York card issuer said Tuesday that Heartland Payment Systems Inc. of Princeton, N.J. would start offering Amex acceptance to its merchant clients in the second half of the year.
Amex announced a similar agreement with U.S. Bancorp's Nova Information Services of Atlanta last week and a deal with First Data Corp. in December. In all three deals, Amex is retaining control of the merchant contracts and pricing. The First Data deal was the first time Amex allowed a third party to process its transactions.
Bob Carr, Heartland's chairman and chief executive, said in a press release Tuesday that "our agreement with American Express simplifies card processing for these business owners" by allowing them to accept Amex transactions through the same platform they use for other cards.
American Express said these deals are a way to make Amex more appealing to small and midsize merchants. Kim Goodman, an executive vice president with Amex's North American merchant services business, said in the Heartland release that such merchants "now have the choice of a new way to streamline payment acceptance."
