[wil421]

Worked in restaurants for years while I was in college. All but 1 restaurant I worked at had systems that asked for the type of card.

I dont think this is limited to web forms.

[i386]

Probably to add the surcharge? Vendors pay AMEX a % of the purchase.

[wil421]

Could be a possibility, in the situation where I didnt have to select a card type the system would automatically register the correct type as soon as I swiped the card.