American Express exchange rates
With VISA steadily gaining market share over the global credit card segment over the years, American Express is struggling to prevent itself from one day being obsolete. As a result, it has started to offer more tie-up with merchants to offer discounts to products as well as more advertising on the media.
Another draw on using American Express is the better exchange rates offered compared to VISA. If you ever owned both an American Express credit card as well as a VISA credit card, ever wondered which credit card gives you the better exchange rate? General experience says: American Express, especially in continent Americas as well as Asia.
Just to test it out, on my trip to Singapore, I bought a handbag using my American Express credit card and a laptop using my VISA credit card on the same day. When I am back in America, the effective exchange rate of US Dollar – Singapore dollar on my American Express credit card bill was 1.42. This is better than VISA (1.41). The experience is quite consistent in my travel to other countries.
Therefore, I still keep my American Express credit card even though I am someone who does not like too many cards in my wallet. I am happy with the exchange rate quoted by them, and the merchants which offer the mode of payment must be happy to bring in additional sales too.
