Amex

Who should use this guideThis guide is intended for merchants who:

Use Payrails as a payment orchestrator
Use Amex Payments
Are approved to process raw card data

We use a server-to-server integration with Amex, so your account must be enabled to process raw card data. If this isn’t enabled, payments won’t work in production. Please contact your Amex account manager or support team to activate it.

If you accept American Express through another PSP (for example Adyen or Checkout.com), no special setup is required. Amex is supported by default as part of that provider’s card schemes. This guide covers Amex Direct only.

Create and Configure an American Express Integration in Payrails

Log in to the Payrails portal
Go to Settings → Integrations
Select Add instance to create a new American Express integration configuration
Select the Workspaces where this integration should be available

About WorkspacesWorkspaces determine where this integration is available. They let you isolate provider setups by region or business line, or share the same configuration across multiple Workspaces.

Step 1: Choose the Integration Type

Select Payment and continue to the next step

Step 2: Choose the Provider

Select Amex and continue to the next step

Step 3: Configure Your American Express Integration

What you’ll need from American ExpressAmerican Express provides your affiliation configuration values directly. Because Payrails is already certified as a gateway to American Express, there is no API key, client secret, or bearer token — the credentials are the merchant and terminal identifiers below.Before beginning, ensure you have:

Merchant ID (SE number)
Merchant Category Code (MCC)
Acquirer Country Code
Merchant Terminal ID
Contact info (Merchant’s telephone number, email, or web (URL) address)
Card acceptor (business) name and address details (found on cardholder statement)

Integration Instance Name

An integration instance is a specific payment provider setup in Payrails. Multiple instances can be created per provider based on region, currency, or business needs (for example, one per entity or region). Choose a clear, consistent name for routing purposes. In Payrails:

Enter an Instance name for your integration

Account Details

In Payrails:

Enter the following values, provided by American Express:

Field	Required	Description
Merchant ID	Required	Merchant ID (SE number) provided by American Express
Merchant Category Code	Required	Amex-specific MCC for the merchant (minimum 4 digits)
Acquiring Institution Identification Code	Optional	Not required for Amex-acquired processing. Leave blank.
Acquirer Country Code	Required	3-digit ISO numeric code for the acquirer / merchant country - (see the American Express Global Codes & Information Guide)
Forwarding Institution Identification Code	Optional	Not required for Amex-acquired processing. Leave blank.
Merchant Terminal ID	Required	Terminal identifier for the e-commerce point of sale -assigned by the processor
Contact Info	Required	Merchant’s telephone number, email, or web (URL) address (max 40 characters)

Payrails Amex account details fields including merchant and acquirer values

Acceptor Details

In Payrails:

Enter the card acceptor (business) details that appear on the cardholder’s statement:

Field	Required	Description
Card Acceptor Name	Required	Alphanumeric, upper case. Becomes part of the descriptive bill on the cardholder’s statement
Card Acceptor Street Name	Required	Street address of the card acceptor
Card Acceptor City Name	Required	Associated with the SE number for the market
Card Acceptor Country Code	Required	Must correspond to the Country code (see the American Express Global Codes & Information Guide)
Card Acceptor Region Code	Required	Must correspond to the Region code (see the American Express Global Codes & Information Guide)
Card Acceptor Postal Code	Optional	Associated with the SE number for the market
Submitter Code	Required	Configured by Payrails; used to capture payments. Merchants do not need to provide this.

Payrails Amex card acceptor details fields

Payment Methods

In Payrails:

Select Card to enable American Express card payments for this integration

Enable the Integration

In Payrails:

Select Save account to enable the integration

The Enabled status indicates that the American Express integration is active. Your American Express integration is now ready to process payments.

Next Steps

Run a test payment using a supported American Express test card
Verify that:
- The payment appears in your American Express reporting
- The payment status updates correctly in Payrails
Once verified in test mode, repeat the setup in live mode

Getting Started

Payment Orchestration

Token Vault

Analytics & Reporting

Fraud Management

Chargebacks

Monitoring

Resources

Use Cases

Create and Configure an American Express Integration in Payrails

Step 1: Choose the Integration Type

Step 2: Choose the Provider