6   Special Regulations for Specific Industries

6.1   Introduction

6.2   Prohibited or Restricted Industries

6.3   Airline Merchants

6.4   Charitable Donations

6.5   Insurance

6.6   Lodging

6.7   Motor Vehicles

6.8   Payment Facilitators

6.9   Transit Contactless Transactions

6.10   Travel Services

 

6.1     Introduction

a.This chapter sets forth additional policies and procedures applicable to Merchants classified in specific industries. If this applies to you, all other provisions and requirements of the Merchant Regulations will also apply to you. To the extent possible, the provisions of this Chapter 6, "Special Regulations for Specific Industries" and all the other provision of the Merchant Regulations shall be interpreted to give each their full effect. However, if a conflict is deemed to exist between them, then the provisions of this Chapter 6, "Special Regulations for Specific Industries" shall prevail.

6.2     Prohibited or Restricted Industries

 

6.2.1      Prohibited Industries

a.Your Establishments are not permitted to accept the Card if they operate in any of the following Prohibited Industries. We may suspend acceptance of Cards by you or any of your Establishments or terminate the Agreement (including immediate termination without prior notice to you) if we determine or have reason to believe, in our sole discretion, that you or any of your Establishments are performing a prohibited activity or operating in a Prohibited Industry.

6.2.2      Restricted Industries

 

a.The following industries are restricted. In order to accept Transactions in the following industries, you will need to obtain written permission from us. We may in our full discretion approve or deny such requests. We may suspend acceptance of Cards by you or any of your Establishments or terminate the Agreement (including immediate termination without prior notice to you) if we determine or have reason to believe, in our sole discretion, that you or any of your Establishments are performing a restricted activity or operating in a Restricted Industry without our written permission.

6.3     Airline Merchants

6.3.1      Affiliate Carriers

a.You shall cause the Affiliate Carriers to accept Cards in accordance and in compliance with the Agreement and you will be responsible for their compliance thereof.

6.3.2      Charge Records

a.You must meet the requirements for Charge Records as detailed in Section 2.4, "Charge or Credit Records" and the Charge Record must clearly state: (i) Cardmember's name and passenger name (if not the Cardmember); (ii) the ticket number and the origin and destination of each flight and class code or, if not a ticket, a description of the goods or services being purchased; (iii) airline merchant’s and, if an Agent is involved, Agent's name and the location where Charge is being made; and (iv) if applicable, the election by Cardmember of Extended Payment.

6.3.3      Extended Payment

a.Certain Cardmembers who have an Extended Payment arrangement with American Express may request to use it when making a purchase for air transport. Related services may not be purchased with Extended Payment. You will have no liability if, without your knowledge, a Cardmember incorrectly identifies as having Extended Payment with American Express. You should not ask a Cardmember if he/she wishes to elect Extended Payment, but if the Cardmember indicates that Cardmember does, you will record the Cardmember's election by an entry on the Charge Record and on the Transmission, if you submit electronically.

6.3.4      In-Flight Charges

a.Until American Express offers satellite or other in-flight Authorisation capability, you do not need prior Authorisation for in-flight Charges permitted under the Agreement. However, within 24 hours after termination of a flight on which Charges have been made, you must get Authorisation as described above for each such Charge.

6.3.5      Private Charter Charges

a.For Charges for private charters (where all or most of the charter is being paid with the Card), you must obtain Authorisation at the time the request to pay with the Card is made and, if any such Authorisation is obtained more than seven (7) days prior to the flight, then Authorisation must be obtained again within seven (7) days prior to the flight. Charges for private charters (i.e., where the Card is being used to pay for all or most of the charter) may not be submitted until the service has been fully completed (e.g., if the Charge covers a round trip, the Charge must be submitted immediately after the completion of the return flight and not before).

6.3.6      Submitting Transactions

a.Agents in the U.S. will submit electronically through ARC or its successor, and Agents outside the U.S. will do the same through the appropriate IATA or BSP process. You must submit Transactions to American Express in the country where the Transactions were made, or centrally, as agreed between American Express and you. Transactions from Affiliate Carriers must be submitted to American Express by you or your Agents. You are solely responsible for settlement with each Affiliate Carrier and Agents and you are jointly and severally liable for their obligations under the Agreement.

b.Where American Express does not offer electronic submission, or where American Express agrees otherwise in advance in writing, you may submit Transactions to American Express using magnetic tape or on paper. Magnetic tapes must conform to American Express’ requirements. Paper submissions must be batched as described in this section and sent to such address as American Express notifies you, along with a summary form as provided by American Express, as often as possible, but at least weekly. In case of sales by Agents, paper submissions must be sent to such address as airline merchant instructs them or to the appropriate central processing facility (ARC in the U.S. or an IATA or BSP outside the U.S.). Charges submitted on paper must be sorted, batched, summarised, and submitted separately to American Express as follows:

i.by currency;

ii.Charges incurred in any other currency (American Express is not obliged to accept such Charges but to the extent American Express does it is fully at American Express’ discretion and will not create any obligation to accept such Charges in the future);

iii.all Charges on Extended Payment;

iv.all Charges for related services as agreed upon by American Express;

v.each batch may contain no more than 150 Charge Records; and

vi.each batch must be accompanied by a summary form on which must be prominently indicated the gross amount and number of Charges, the currency, airline merchant’s name, and airline merchant’s assigned Establishment Number.

6.4     Charitable Donations

a.You represent and warrant that you are a non-profit organisation and are registered as a charity in the country.

b.You may accept the Card only for charitable donations that are either 100% tax-deductible to the Cardmember, or in payment of goods or services where at least 75% of the Charge is tax-deductible to the Cardmember. Notwithstanding the foregoing, charitable donations may be non-tax deductible if required under Applicable Law.

6.5     Insurance

a.If any of your goods or services are sold or billed by Independent Agencies, then you must provide to us a list of such Independent Agencies and notify us of any subsequent changes in the list. We may use this list to conduct mailings that encourage such Independent Agencies to accept the Card. We may mention your name in such mailings, and you will provide us with a letter of endorsement or assistance as we may require.

b.You will use your best efforts to encourage Independent Agencies to accept the Card. We acknowledge that you have no control over such Independent Agencies.

c.From time to time we may establish marketing campaigns that promote Card acceptance specifically at your Establishments or, generally, at insurance companies. You acknowledge that a necessary purpose for which you submit Cardmember Information that is responsive to such marketing campaigns includes our use of that information to perform back-end analyses to determine the success of such marketing campaigns. The Agreement does not authorise either party to enter into any marketing or cross-selling arrangements for insurance products.

d.We undertake no responsibility on your behalf for the collection or timely remittance of premiums.

e.You will indemnify, defend, and hold harmless us and our Affiliates, successors, and assigns from and against all damages, liabilities, losses, costs, and expenses, including legal fees, to Cardmembers (or former Cardmembers) which we or our Affiliates, successors, or assigns do or will suffer or incur and which arise or are alleged to have arisen from your termination or other action regarding their insurance coverage.

f.This Section 6.5, "Insurance", applies to you and your Agencies that conduct business in the same industry as you. Agency means any entity or line of business that uses your Marks or holds itself out to the public as a member of your group of companies. Independent Agency means an entity or line of business that sells your and other's goods or services for which it may receive either payment or commission from you or an Agency.

6.6     Lodging

6.6.1      Emergency Check-In

a.If a Cardmember whose Card is lost or stolen requests check-in, you must call the Authorisation telephone number, ask for an American Express representative, request Authorisation for an "Emergency Check-In", and follow the representative's instructions.

6.7     Motor Vehicles

6.7.1      Vehicle Rental

a.When a Cardmember wishes to use the Card to rent a vehicle:

i.ensure that the Cardmember has executed a standard rental agreement;

ii.ensure that the Cardmember has provided a valid driving license;

iii.ensure that the vehicle rental is commenced on or subsequent to the beginning date and on or prior to the expiration date shown on the face of the Card;

iv.ensure that the Cardmember has and met such other qualifications as the Establishment normally requires in the case of vehicle rentals; and

v.ensure that a Charge Record or rental agreement is completed.

b.You must obtain an Estimated Authorisation for the full amount of the Charge (see Section 3.3, "Estimated Authorisation") by multiplying the rate by the rent period reserved by the Cardmember plus any known incidentals. You must not include an amount for any possible damage to or theft of the vehicle. In your rental agreement with the Cardmember, you must specify the full exact cost of the vehicle rental together with the exact cost of any additional goods or services made available to the Cardmember (e.g., child seats) and the exact amount of any other cost that the Cardmember may be liable for and that is within the Cardmember's control to avoid (e.g., a "no show" fee or a charge for failing to return the vehicle with a full fuel tank). The rental agreement must include the Cardmember's consent to include these costs in the Charge submitted for the vehicle rent.

c.The Estimated Authorisation is valid for seven (7) days following the conclusion of the vehicle rental period set forth in the rental agreement.

d.If upon return of a rental vehicle, the vehicle has been damaged and the Cardmember has not purchased the car rental collision or loss insurance and the Cardmember voluntarily selects to use the Card to pay for property damage to a rented vehicle, you may submit a Charge, which will be submitted separately from any Charge submitted for the cost of the vehicle rental, for an estimate of the capital damages amount incurred, provided that:

i.the Establishment must provide in writing, to the Cardmember, an itemised list and description of the specific damage which has occurred;

ii.prior to submitting a Charge, the Establishment obtained a written, signed acknowledgement from the Cardmember of their responsibility for the capital damage, including a specific estimate of the capital damages amount and a written statement from the Cardmember that he/she wants to pay the specified capital damages with the Card (the Cardmember written statement must be made freely and without any threat or duress);

iii.the Establishment must adhere to the requirements for completion of Charge Records and must obtain a separate and additional Authorisation for the estimate of the capital damages amount;

iv.the original Charge for the car rental was made on the Card of the same Cardmember referred to above at the time the vehicle was checked out;

v.the Charge submitted for capital damages is no greater than the estimated capital damages plus fifteen percent (15%) or, in the case of a total loss, the replacement cost of the vehicle. No amounts in excess of one hundred and fifteen percent (115%) of the disclosed amount will be charged to the Cardmember's Card, without the express prior written consent of the Cardmember.

e.You must comply with requests from the Cardmember or the Cardmember's insurance adjustor to supply documentation related to the capital damages incident.

f.You must never include the following in an Authorisation Request or in a Charge submission:

i.Losses due to theft of the vehicle, or

ii.Loss of revenue incurred by you due to loss of use of the rental vehicle in question.

g.In addition to the other Chargeback rights contained in the Agreement, we will exercise Chargeback rights if any Charge for Capital Damages is not submitted in accordance with all the procedures contained within these Merchant Regulations.

h.You must not include an amount in any Charge for any damages, penalties, fines, charges, costs, or fees in addition to the Estimated Authorisation whether or not such amounts are set out in the rental agreement unless such itemised amounts are expressly permitted to be charged under the Agreement and expressly requested by the Cardmember to be charged to the Card. If you include such amounts in any Charge without the Cardmember's express request, we will have Chargeback rights for the amount of the Charge in excess of the Estimated Authorisation.

i.Upon return of the vehicle, follow the procedures for estimated amounts in Section 3.3, "Estimated Authorisation".

j.We may monitor your compliance with the preceding special Authorisation procedures. If we notify you that an Establishment is not complying with these Authorisation procedures, you must cure such non-compliance within thirty (30) days. If, after thirty (30) days from the date of such notice, you continue not to comply with these procedures, then we will have Chargeback rights for the full amount of any Charges made at that Establishment during such continued non-compliance. For purposes of this provision, "noncompliance" occurs when more than five percent (5%) of either your total or any one Establishment's Authorisations do not comply with the preceding procedures.

k.Notwithstanding the Authorisation procedures set out above, you must still obtain the Cardmember's consent to the full exact amount of the Charge. Any additional amount may only be submitted if you treat it as a separate Charge and obtain the Cardmember's consent to the full exact amount of the Charge.

6.7.2      Sales

a.We will accept Charges for the deposit payment or the entire purchase price of new and used motor vehicles only if:

i.the amount of the Charge does not exceed the total price of the motor vehicle after deduction of applicable discounts, rebates, cash down payments, and trade-in values; and

ii.you obtain Authorisation for the entire amount of the Charge.

b.If the Cardmember denies making or authorising the Charge and you have not transferred title or physical possession of the motor vehicle to the Cardmember, we will have Chargeback rights for such Charge.

6.8     Payment Facilitators

 

a.If your business model requires you to accept the Card on behalf of third parties (Sponsored Merchants), and your Agreement allows it, you are a Payment Facilitator for the purposes of your Agreement with us. We have the right, in our sole discretion, whether or not to approve and/or designate you as a Payment Facilitator on the American Express network. As a Payment Facilitator, you must comply with any additional requirements, policies, or procedures of which we notify you from time to time.

b.At a minimum, you must:

i.submit to American Express the mandatory, conditional, and optional Sponsored Merchant Data elements in the Sponsored Merchant Information Interface as outlined in the American Express Technical Specifications.

ii.obtain Authorisation for all Sponsored Merchant charges and submit each Sponsored Merchant charge according to the mandatory data element requirements specified in the Specifications or local network specifications.

c.If you are a Payment Facilitator located outside the EEA or UK, you cannot recruit Sponsored Merchant Prospects that fall into and/or engage in a line of business appearing within any of the following:

i.Any of the categories listed in Subsection 6.2.1, "      Prohibited Industries" and Subsection 6.2.2, "      Restricted Industries".

ii.Travel industry, including, but not limited to:

§Airlines and air carriers (MCC 3000-3302, 4511)

§Car rental agencies (MCC 3351-3441, 7512)

§Lodging hotels, motels, resorts, including “branded” central reservation services (MCC 3501-3999, 7011)

§Steamships and cruise lines including onboard cruise shops (MCC 4411)

§Timeshares (MCC 7012)

§Travel agencies and tour operators (MCC 4722)

iii.Telecommunications Services, including wireless, cable, satellite, wire line, ISP (MCC 4814, 4816, 4899).

iv.Other Payment Facilitators (except to the extent the entity itself sells goods to which it has title).

v.Indirect Acceptors with the exception of Marketplaces.

d.If you are a Payment Facilitator located in the EEA or UK, you cannot, without prior written consent, recruit Sponsored Merchant Prospects that fall into and/or engage in a line of business appearing within any of the categories listed in Subsection 6.2.1, "      Prohibited Industries" and Subsection 6.2.2, "      Restricted Industries". Certain categories will require Payment Facilitators and/or their Sponsored Merchants to follow additional policies and procedures.

e.Please contact your American Express representative to understand all your obligations as a Payment Facilitator. Failure to comply with your obligations may result in non-compliance penalties.

6.9     Transit Contactless Transactions

 

6.9.1      Card Acceptance Requirements for Transit Contactless Transactions

a.When accepting and processing Transit Contactless Transactions you must:

i.Be classified in one of the following MCCs: 4111, 4112, 4131, 4784, 7523 and pass that MCC in the Authorisation and Submission.

ii.Not accept the following Cards:

a.expired Cards

b.Cards within the specified BIN ranges provided by us

c.Cards that are on the Deny List at the time the Cardmember attempts to access the transit system

iii.Flag all requests for Authorisation and Submission with a transit indicator and meet additional transit technical requirements (see Section 1.3, "Compliance with our Specifications").

6.9.2      Authorisation and Submission Requirements

a.When accepting a Transit Contactless Transaction, you must obtain an Account Status Check for a nominal amount or any amount up to the Chargeback Protection Threshold (as set forth in Subsection 6.9.3, "      Transit Thresholds") or an Authorisation. The following sets out how to proceed based on the response you receive to the Account Status Check or Authorisation.

6.9.3      Transit Thresholds

a.The following thresholds will apply and be provided to you in writing:

i.Chargeback Protection Threshold

ii.Authorisation Time Period

iii.Submission Frequency

iv.Declined Authorisation Protection

6.9.4      Transit Charge Information

a.You must ensure the Cardmember has access to the following information for a minimum of one hundred and twenty (120) days:

i.Name associated with the Merchant Number

ii.Total Transaction amount

iii.Date of travel

iv.Start time of each individual journey, if available

v.End time of each individual journey, if available

vi.Final Transaction date

6.9.5      Transit Debt Recovery

a.If an Authorisation is declined, you may attempt to recover any outstanding debt, providing all the following conditions are met:

i.The value of the debt is greater than the Declined Authorisation Protection Threshold (as set forth in Subsection 6.9.3, "      Transit Thresholds").

ii.You obtain an approved Authorisation for the full value of the debt owed.

iii.You do not attempt more than six (6) Authorisations after the initial Authorisation was declined.

iv.No more than thirty (30) days have elapsed since the initial Authorisation was declined.

v.You should adhere to the requirements in Subsection 2.3.5, "      Merchant-Initiated Transactions", when processing Merchant-Initiated Transactions for Debt Recovery.

6.9.6      Management of the Deny List

a.You must maintain a Deny List by adding or removing Card Numbers based on any new Authorisation approval or decline. You must not add a Card Number to the Deny List for any other reason, except in exceptional circumstances where you suspect travel irregularities associated with the use of the relevant Card. The Deny List must be updated at least once daily. We recommend that you update the Deny List more frequently when possible.

b.When a Card is tapped, you must immediately check the Deny List and refuse entry to any Cardmember when the Card Number of the Card used appears on the Deny List.

c.You must not submit Transit Contactless Transactions when the Card Number appears on the Deny List at the time of submission attempt. A Card Number must be removed from the Deny List if an Account Status Check or Authorisation request is subsequently approved.

d.We may issue Chargebacks if you fail to comply with these requirements or the provisions of this Section 6.9, "Transit Contactless Transactions".

6.9.7      Pay-In-Advance Transit Passes

a.You may offer a pay-in-advance fare program, which allows Cardmembers to use their Card, Contactless Card or Mobile Device to purchase, in advance of travel:

i.time-based, unlimited travel passes, which allow the Cardmember to use their Contactless Card or Mobile Device to enter and/or use the transit system until the time limit for such pass expires, or

ii.passes are available for a defined value or defined number of trips, which allow the Cardmember to use their Contactless Card or Mobile Device to enter and/or use the transit system until the balance is used. Balances on these passes are reduced as the Cardmember uses the transit system, either in terms of value or number of trips, depending on the type of pass purchased.

b.If the Cardmember uses a Pay-In-Advance Transit pass, you must:

i.Limit the system functions to account identification and fare validation only, and

ii.Not process taps as Transit Contactless Transactions.

6.10     Travel Services

a.If you are in the business of supplying land, sea, or air transportation, accommodation, sightseeing tours or other arrangements, or other travel services and you use Agents to sell your services, your Agents may accept the Card as payment for your services and you may submit the resulting Charges to us for payment as if each Agent were one of your Establishments. You will cause your Agents to comply with the Agreement, and you will be responsible for their compliance. Because we will pay you and not your Agents for any Charges submitted to us in this manner, you will be responsible for paying your Agents and otherwise settling with them for those Charges.

b.American Express will assign you unique Establishment Numbers which you and your Agents must use as instructed by American Express for submissions of Transactions. You are solely responsible for financial arrangements and for settlement with Agents and you are jointly and severally liable for their obligations under the Agreement.