Accepting American Express

Last updated: Aug 12, 2026, 3:33 PM

There are two ways in which you can accept American Express® Cards, OptBlue® from American Express (pending eligibility†) or direct with American Express.

In this Article:

 

OptBlue® From American Express

OptBlue is an American Express (Amex) program that enables you to process American Express Cards through Toast with consolidated statements and fast deposits. With the OptBlue Program, you get:

 

  • Seamless setup: No further setup is required! Amex transactions will be processed through your Toast account, and you will no longer need an Amex account. You do not need to notify Amex of the change.
  • One deposit, one statement, one support contact: All transactions, no matter what card brand, will be consolidated into your Toast statement and delivered to your settlement account in one easy deposit. Should you ever have any Amex questions, Toast Customer Care is here for you.
  • Consolidated chargebacks: Amex chargebacks will now be processed and can be disputed with Toast exactly as Visa/Mastercard/Discover chargebacks

 

In order to be eligible for the OptBlue Program, you must be a small business that is estimated to process under $3MM in annual American Express Charge Volume and located in the U.S. only, and transact in USD†.

 

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American Express Outside the United States

The OptBlue program is available only to merchants located in the U.S. that transact in USD. It is not available in Canada, Ireland, or the United Kingdom.

 

If your restaurant is outside the U.S., American Express acceptance is not part of standard Toast setup, and it cannot be switched on or off by you in Toast Web or on your POS. To ask about accepting American Express at a non-U.S. location, contact Toast Customer Care. The OptBlue eligibility rules, the Amex Direct merchant ID process, and the reporting described in this article apply to U.S. locations only.

 

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For Existing Amex Direct Merchants

Merchants that have direct relationships with American Express will be provided with an existing American Express merchant ID to enable acceptance of American Express Cards.

If you do not know your American Express merchant number, please follow the steps outlined below: 
 

  1. Gather the following:
    • DBA - "doing business as"
    • EIN - Employer Identification Number
    • Legal business name
    • Business address
    • Phone number
    • Owner's information (name, birthday, home address)
    • Banking information
  2. Contact American Express at (800) 528-5200
    • You MUST be the business owner to obtain the Merchant ID
    • The call should only take 10-15 minutes
  3. Email your Merchant ID to Toast.

 

You can expect to begin processing Amex cards within 2-3 business days after submitting your Merchant ID to Toast.

 

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Turning American Express Acceptance Off

American Express acceptance is elected when your account is set up. It is not a POS or device setting, and it cannot be turned off in Toast Web.

 

To stop accepting American Express, the account owner must call Toast Customer Care. Requests sent by email are not accepted. Allow roughly 24 business hours for the change to take effect.

 

After you opt out, American Express entries can continue to appear in your Deposit Totals Overview report for a short period. Those entries are sales that were processed before your cancellation date settling out - they are not new Amex acceptance.

 

If Amex payments start capturing again after you opted out, or start for the first time when you never elected Amex, this is an account configuration issue rather than something you can correct on the POS. One known cause is an Amex Direct setup carrying an incorrect American Express Merchant ID supplied during onboarding. Call Toast Customer Care and have ready: the date you first saw Amex payments, the date of your original opt-out request, and a recent example order or deposit date.

 

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Reporting

In addition to monthly credit card processing statements, you can view Amex transactions in the Deposit Totals Overview report in Toast Web - the same report you normally use to view all of your V/M/D transactions.


When you use OptBlue, the Deposit Totals Overview report presents a single total for all of your credit card payments, refunds, fees, and the net deposit to your account. The report also consolidates the Visa/MasterCard/Discover section and the American Express section.

 

Similarly, the Settled Deposits Daily Breakdown report now includes columns for total payments, refunds, fees, and net deposits by default.

 

To see totals for Visa/Mastercard/Discover separately from American Express, you can use the Show/Hide columns option near the top of the report to add more columns.

 

For example, you can include columns for the number of credit card payments (# V/MC/D Payments and # Amex Payments) and the credit card payment amounts (V/MC/D Payments and Amex Payments).

 

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†Terms of individual OptBlue Participant Program Agreements may vary.