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SmartRetry - Payment Recovery Platform

American Express

  • Cards

American Express is a global card network and issuer brand that merchants can accept for in-store and online card payments.

Struggling with your approval ratio for this payment provider?

contact SmartRetry team →
Published
Last updated
1 min
American Express
American Express payment phone

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American Express Company Overview

Foundation
1850
Stock ID
NYSE:AXP
Company Type
public
Employees
64,000+
Location
USAUSA
Channel
OnlineIn person
For developers
Status pageStack Overflow

Features

Global card network acceptance

Support for American Express cards across major ecommerce, in-store, and omni-channel setups. Availability can differ by acquirer/PSP and merchant category.

Authorization outcomes and routing

Transactions are authorized through your payment platform’s Amex connectivity. Clear decline codes and response data help guide retries and customer messaging.

Approval rates and card declines visibility

Monitor Amex approval rate, soft vs hard declines, and issuer responses in your PSP logs. Use this data to tune retry rules and customer prompts.

Security and compliance alignment

Works within standard card-payment security practices, including PCI-focused handling through compliant PSPs. Tokenization and secure storage depend on your platform.

Customer authentication support

Authentication flows (where applicable) are typically managed by your PSP and checkout stack. Ensure Amex transactions use the same risk and authentication policies as other card brands.

Disputes and chargebacks handling

Chargebacks are generally managed via your acquirer/PSP with Amex-specific reason codes and timelines. Evidence requirements can vary by dispute type and region.

Operational reliability and reporting

Network processing is generally stable, with performance tracked via your PSP’s monitoring and reconciliation reports. Settlement reporting and descriptors depend on your acquirer setup.

Tip from SmartRetry If Amex declines are elevated, segment by decline reason and entry mode (ecommerce vs in-store) and review AVS/CVV and billing address quality before adjusting retry behavior.

Currencies

Processing currenciesUSD, EUR, GBP, JPY, AUD, CAD, CHF, HKD, SGD, CNY, INR

Available in

Available countries
  • Global

FAQ

American Express operates as a card network and issuer brand; merchants typically access it through a PSP and/or acquiring bank that supports Amex acceptance.
Most merchants enable Amex through their PSP or acquirer settings, then confirm pricing, settlement, and reporting details for Amex transactions in the same account.
Common causes include insufficient funds/credit, mismatched billing details, suspected fraud, unsupported merchant configuration, or issuer-side restrictions; check the specific decline code returned by your PSP.
Review Amex decline codes, reduce data-entry errors (name/address), ensure accurate AVS/CVV handling, and avoid aggressive retry patterns that can trigger additional declines.
It depends on your PSP/acquirer; some bundle Amex acceptance, while others require enabling Amex separately or meeting additional onboarding requirements.

Statuses

Statuses — All
CodeDescriptionLevelFrequencyResolution
ECI Codes
05

Cardholder authentication is successful (step-up or frictionless)

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06

Authentication was attempted but not completed (e.g. frictionless or passive)

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07

Non-authenticated e-commerce transaction

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Issuer Response Codes
100

Deny

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101

Expired Card / Invalid Expiration Date

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106

Exceeded PIN attempts

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109

Invalid merchant

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110

Invalid amount

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111

Invalid account

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115

Requested function not supported

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116

Not Sufficient Funds

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117

Invalid PIN

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119

Cardmember not enrolled / not permitted

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120

Transaction not permitted to terminal

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121

Limit Exceeded

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122

Invalid card security code

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125

Invalid effective date

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130

Additional customer identification required

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181

Format error

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183

Invalid currency code

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187

Deny – New card issued

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189

Deny – Cancelled or Closed Merchant/SE

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190

National ID Mismatch

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193

Invalid Country Code

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194

Invalid Region Code

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200

Deny – Pick up card

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201

Expired Card

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202

Suspected fraud

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208

Lost Card

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209

Stolen Card

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900

Accepted – ATC Synchronization

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909

System Malfunction (Cryptographic error)

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912

Issuer not available

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977

Invalid Payment Plan

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978

Invalid Payment Times

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000

Approved

---
001

Approve with ID

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002

PARTIAL APPROVAL (PREPAID CARDS ONLY)

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3DS Transaction Status Reason
10

Stolen card

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11

Suspected fraud

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12

Transaction not permitted to cardholder

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13

Cardholder not enrolled in service

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14

Transaction timed out at the ACS

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15

Low confidence

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16

Medium confidence

---
17

High confidence

---
18

Very high confidence

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19

Exceeds ACS maximum challenges

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20

Non-payment transaction not supported

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21

3RI transaction not supported

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22

ACS technical issue

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23

Decoupled authentication required by ACS but not requested by 3DS requestor

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24

3DS requestor decoupled max expiry time exceeded

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25

Decoupled Authentication was provided insufficient time to authenticate cardholder. ACS will not make attempt

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26

Authentication attempted but not performed by the cardholder

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27

Preferred authentication method not supported

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01

Card authentication failed

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02

Unknown device

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03

Unsupported device

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04

Exceeds authentication frequency limit

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05

Expired card

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06

Invalid card number

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07

Invalid transaction

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08

No card record

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09

Security failure

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3DS Transaction Status
Y

Authentication / Account Verification Successful

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N

Not Authenticated / Account Not Verified; Transaction denied

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U

Authentication / Account Verification Could Not Be Performed (technical or other problem)

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A

Attempts Processing Performed; not authenticated/verified, but proof of attempted authentication is provided

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C

Challenge Required; additional authentication required (CReq/CRes flow)

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D

Decoupled authentication confirmed

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R

Authentication / Account Verification Rejected; issuer requests authorization not be attempted

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I

Informational only; 3DS Requestor challenge preference acknowledged

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CAVV Result Codes
1

AEVV Failed – Authentication, Issuer Key

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2

AEVV Passed – Authentication, Issuer Key

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3

AEVV Passed – Attempt, Issuer Key

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4

AEVV Failed – Attempt, Issuer Key

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7

AEVV Failed – Attempt, Issuer not participating, Network Key

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8

AEVV Passed – Attempt, Issuer not participating, Network Key

---
9

AEVV Failed – Attempt, Participating, ACS not available, Network Key

---
A

AEVV Passed – Attempt, Participating, ACS not available, Network Key

---
U

AEVV Unchecked

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Why Issuer Decline Codes Are Inconsistent and How to Build Smarter Payment Recovery

June 18, 2026

Why Issuer Decline Codes Are Inconsistent and How to Build Smarter Payment Recovery

This article explains why issuer decline codes are unreliable and how payment teams can use better customer messaging, smarter retries, and context-aware optimization to recover revenue and reduce false failure handling.

Why Payment Routing Changes Trigger Approval Rate Drops and How to Recover

June 11, 2026

Why Payment Routing Changes Trigger Approval Rate Drops and How to Recover

This article explains why issuer trust breaks during payment routing changes and how operators can restore performance with gradual traffic shifts, cleaner auth data, and smarter decline recovery to protect revenue.

When Issuers Build Around Customer Money Flows, Authorization Performance Improves

June 4, 2026

When Issuers Build Around Customer Money Flows, Authorization Performance Improves

This article explains how issuers use deposit timing, recurring behavior, and better signals to approve more payments. For operators, the payoff is fewer false declines, smarter retries, and stronger recurring revenue retention.

How to Avoid Payment Declines at the 2026 FIFA World Cup

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How to Avoid Payment Declines at the 2026 FIFA World Cup

This article explains how merchants can reduce cross-border declines during the World Cup through smarter routing, richer auth data, and recovery tactics that protect revenue and lift approval rates.