topic Re: AMEX not accepted? in Get Support

AMEX not accepted?

aztec — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 11:07:31 GMT

Hi,

I'm trying to enter my AMEX card to auot-pay and it's not working. The message I'm getting is this: Unable to Process Transaction
Sorry, we are unable to verify your credit card information, so this purchase could not be completed. Your credit card has not been charged.

does anyone know if Public Mobile accepts AMEX or why this isn't working for me?

Re: AMEX not accepted?

Anonymous — Thu, 15 Nov 2018 01:12:01 GMT

@aztec wrote:
Hi,
I'm trying to enter my AMEX card to auot-pay and it's not working. The message I'm getting is this: Unable to Process Transaction
Sorry, we are unable to verify your credit card information, so this purchase could not be completed. Your credit card has not been charged.

does anyone know if Public Mobile accepts AMEX or why this isn't working for me?

Edit: I'm standing corrected.

~~1. They do not.~~

~~2. Because they don't take Amex.~~

Re: AMEX not accepted?

RobertQc — Thu, 15 Nov 2018 05:54:32 GMT

@aztec wrote:
Hi,
I'm trying to enter my AMEX card to auot-pay and it's not working. The message I'm getting is this: Unable to Process Transaction
Sorry, we are unable to verify your credit card information, so this purchase could not be completed. Your credit card has not been charged.

does anyone know if Public Mobile accepts AMEX or why this isn't working for me?

@aztec~~PM does not accept Amex.~~ Apparently they do!? Amazing.

I think the best question is, who does accept amex? The list of stores that do take amax is smaller than the ones that don't.

Amex charges retailers too much money.

https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-cards/retailers-accept-american-express/

Re: AMEX not accepted?

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Nov 2018 22:36:23 GMT

@aztec:

Paypal takes Amex. You can buy vouchers online from recharge.com and they take Paypal. Then you can enter the voucher into Public Mobile.

recharge.com is barely cheaper than buying vouchers in a store for almost all of the country. Not Alberta.

But it sure is convenient.

Re: AMEX not accepted?

popping — Wed, 14 Nov 2018 23:24:06 GMT

@RobertQc wrote:
@aztec wrote:
Hi,
I'm trying to enter my AMEX card to auot-pay and it's not working. The message I'm getting is this: Unable to Process Transaction
Sorry, we are unable to verify your credit card information, so this purchase could not be completed. Your credit card has not been charged.

does anyone know if Public Mobile accepts AMEX or why this isn't working for me?

@aztecPM does not accept Amex.

I think the best question is, who does accept amex? The list of stores that do take amax is smaller than the ones that don't.

Amex charges retailers too much money.
https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-cards/retailers-accept-american-express/

One of my PM account is using AmEx charge card as autopay. It had been working for the last few renewal cycles.

I just checked my autopay CC on self-serve. It is showing the first 6-digits and last 4-digits of my AmEx charge card - NOT AmEx credit card - I don't know whether it makes any difference at PM.

Re: AMEX not accepted?

Anonymous — Thu, 15 Nov 2018 01:12:51 GMT

@popping wrote:
One of my PM account is using AmEx charge card as autopay. It had been working for the last few renewal cycles.

I just checked my autopay CC on self-serve. It is showing the first 6-digits and last 4-digits of my AmEx charge card - NOT AmEx credit card - I don't know whether it makes any difference at PM.

I'm standing corrected. According to this reference, it's Visa, Mastercard, American Express credit cards. Interesting that you're using an Amex (what you're calling) charge card. Isn't that really basically the same idea?

So @aztec...no unit # in the unit field, addressess matching exactly, possibly no space in the postal code.

Re: AMEX not accepted?

popping — Thu, 15 Nov 2018 01:27:32 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@popping wrote:
One of my PM account is using AmEx charge card as autopay. It had been working for the last few renewal cycles.

I just checked my autopay CC on self-serve. It is showing the first 6-digits and last 4-digits of my AmEx charge card - NOT AmEx credit card - I don't know whether it makes any difference at PM.
I'm standing corrected. According to this reference, it's Visa, Mastercard, American Express credit cards. Interesting that you're using an Amex (what you're calling) charge card. Isn't that really basically the same idea?

So @aztec...no unit # in the unit field, addressess matching exactly, possibly no space in the postal code.

AmEx charge card does not have a preset spending limit. AmEx Charge card cannot carry a balance and must be paid back on the statement due date. Interest charge is over 30% AmEx Gold Reward card is a charge card.

AmEx credit card has a preset credit limit. You can carry a balance. Lower interest rate around 20%. AmEx Simply Cash card is a credit card.

Re: AMEX not accepted?

Dunkman — Thu, 15 Nov 2018 01:28:50 GMT

@aztec

The PM website is finicky. Try the above suggestions. Also, maybe try a different web browser, clearing cache and trying incognito/privacy mode on browser. The address should match exactly as your credit card billing statement.

Re: AMEX not accepted?

Luddite — Thu, 15 Nov 2018 01:29:15 GMT

@aztec Amex is accepted but has been notoriously difficult to get accepted; mine has been accepted but not yet gone through an autopay cycle.

Things to try:

a) wait until tomorrow

b) clear browser's cache and use incognito/private mode

c) use a different browser

d) delete your current card, then add a new card being careful that name & address matches your Amex account exactly

When all else fails click this: message to moderators to send a private message to the moderator team with a description of your issue along with your phone number and 4 digit PIN. If you’ve forgotten the PIN, provide any 3 of the following in your message: complete mailing address, email address, alternate phone number, last top up date & amount.

Moderator hours are: Monday to Friday, 9 am (ET) to 9 pm (ET); Saturday - Sunday 9 am (ET) - 7:30 pm (ET). Sometimes they answer within in 24 hours, but can take a few days.

Do not send multiple messages. This pushes you further back in the queue as the system takes into consideration your most recent message.

Re: AMEX not accepted?

stonechucker — Thu, 15 Nov 2018 17:11:17 GMT

I remember two things about Amex cards here and do not know if they are still an issue.

The 3-digit code for AMEX is actually 4-digit and may be on the front of the card, rather than the back.

Signup/Account creation doesn't work, but AutoPay does.

Re: AMEX not accepted?

aztec — Thu, 22 Nov 2018 15:40:44 GMT

hi, thanks for the suggestion. I've never used recharge.com, do they charge any extra fees?

I think paypal charges a fee but only to the seller.

Re: AMEX not accepted?

CalgaryBen — Thu, 22 Nov 2018 15:56:03 GMT

@stonechucker wrote:
Signup/Account creation doesn't work, but AutoPay does.

This is 100% true in my experience. I couldn't use my AmEx during account creation (had to use my MC), but once all was up and running, I went in and successfully changed to AmEx for AutoPay. I'm using the same AmEx for a couple PM accounts on auto-pay with no issues.

As a consumer, sometimes using AmEx is a bit more pain (not all merchants accept, some don't even know if they accept it until trying, and some accept it but POS terminals aren't always set up for "tap", etc.), but the slight edge in cash back rewards makes it worth my while. As a merchant, there's typically a 1% differential in fees, so I know I'm hated for using AmEx sometimes... just the cost of doing business these days!

Re: AMEX not accepted?

Anonymous — Thu, 22 Nov 2018 16:12:48 GMT

@aztec wrote:
hi, thanks for the suggestion. I've never used recharge.com, do they charge any extra fees?
I think paypal charges a fee but only to the seller.

Yes they charge a fee but if you don't live in Alberta then the total cost comes out to be a tiny bit less than if you bought in a store with all the relevant taxes.

Re: AMEX not accepted?

aztec — Thu, 22 Nov 2018 16:18:59 GMT

Hi,

what did you do or how did you get your AMEX to work with your auto-pay?

it's still throwing up errors for me.

Re: AMEX not accepted?

stonechucker — Thu, 22 Nov 2018 16:38:49 GMT

@aztec, did you try the 4 digit code, instead of the 3 digit code?

Re: AMEX not accepted?

CalgaryBen — Thu, 22 Nov 2018 16:55:29 GMT

@aztec wrote:
what did you do or how did you get your AMEX to work with your auto-pay?
it's still throwing up errors for me.

As everyone has alluded to, the name/address has to match your bill exactly (perhaps even matching case). Here are the steps I took:

I already had Auto-Pay enabled/enrolled with my MC, and changed the card to AmEx as follows:

From the self-serve portal, I clicked on "Payment" tab, clicked on "Manage my card" link near the bottom of the page. On the next page, I clicked on the "Replace this credit card" link.
From the "Register Credit Card" page, I simply filled out the fields. CVV2 is the 4-digit code on the front of the card. Name and address were entered exactly as they appear on my statement (i.e. don't replace full/abbreviated forms such as AVE for AVENUE or vice-versa, etc.), and postal code with no spaces. Although I'm not certain about this being a requirement, I also ensured the case matched my bill (in my case, uppercase for my first/last name, and mixed case for address).
Upon completing this and clicking "Register", I saw:
Your credit card registration has completed for the following card: ***************, MM/YY
VIEW PAYMENT HISTORY RETURN TO OVERVIEW [Manage AutoPay]
(It showed the first 6 and last 4 digits of card, plus expiration date; I've obscured for security reasons.) Obviously if this is where your error is occurring, then the validation part isn't working, and I'm not sure how to troubleshoot since it worked for me on multiple occasions.
I then clicked on "Make a Payment" and selected the "One Time Payment", and added $1.00 to my account as a test/validation step. My AmEx app immediately pushed a notification to me regarding the $1 charge.

Re: AMEX not accepted?

stonechucker — Thu, 22 Nov 2018 17:53:23 GMT

Thanks for following up again @CalgaryBen.

Re: AMEX not accepted?

aztec — Thu, 22 Nov 2018 18:16:28 GMT

@stonechucker

yes

Re: AMEX not accepted?

aztec — Thu, 22 Nov 2018 18:58:30 GMT

@CalgaryBen

Thank you for your answer.

I phoned AMEX and asked them how all my info appears on their side and tried several times but it's still no go.

I'll wait until my first bill arrives and try again.

Re: AMEX not accepted?

CalgaryBen — Thu, 22 Nov 2018 19:09:28 GMT

@aztec wrote:
@CalgaryBen
Thank you for your answer.
I phoned AMEX and asked them how all my info appears on their side and tried several times but it's still no go.
I'll wait until my first bill arrives and try again.

Has your account with AmEx been established for a few months (i.e. not new)? Has your address remain unchanged for the last few months? I presume it's issued by AmEx Canada, correct?. If "no" to any of these questions, then they might be clues to the challenges you're encountering. Unfortunately the validation process only gets a "pass" or "fail" from issuer, and not a reason for failure (probably for security purposes).

As a side note, if you haven't already done so, I highly recommend installing the AmEx app. I use it to view my statements, and I also get push notifications in real-time for all transactions. I can't imagine going back to paper billing!