[CardFellow]

Amex actually lowered their fees to be more in line with Visa/MC through its Optblue program back in 2015. The fact that many businesses don't know that is just a testament to the complexity and confusion in the industry.

Source: am in the industry.

[jfoster]

Would that mean that after Visa & MasterCard do this, AMEX will actually be the better option for merchants?

[CardFellow]

We don't know which rates Visa/MC are actually raising yet, but probably not. It has a lot to do with how/what processors charge.

Along with lowering costs, Optblue let processors add a markup to Amex transactions. (Previously they couldn't. That meant no incentive for processors to suggest or push Amex acceptance, as they didn't make money on Amex transactions.)

Now they can, and those markups tend to be higher than for Visa/MC. In egregious cases, the processor simply continues charging the business the old Amex rate (~3.5%) and pockets the entire difference between 3.5% and the new lower rates.

[theshortofit]

Rumor has it that Opt Blue Wholesale rates are going up by 10 pts in a few months