NEW YORK—American Express is introducing a new way to use the AmEx card online, and in the process is adding another player up the digital wallet war.
AmEx Express Checkout appears to be taking on PayPal with the new service, explained Bill Hardekopf, CEO of LowCards.com. “AmEx Express Checkout is similar to the way PayPal works.”
Consumers simply choose the AmEx checkout button when paying for an item with an online merchant, log in using their AmEx online credentials, choose the AmEx card to pay with, and the transaction is complete.
AmEx autocompletes the shipping and billing information and the cardholder’s account information is transferred to the merchant securely, according to AmEx, which also explained that as a security protection, each time card members click on the AmEx Express Checkout button on a merchant site, they will be required to login.
At launch, AmEx has partnered with a number of major online merchants including Burberry, Tory Burch, The Wall Street Journal, Ticketmaster, Avis Car Rental, Cole Haan, Warby Parker, and 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Fortune reported.