American Express is giving Canadian cardmembers a new way to pay, launching Amex Pay as a new feature built into the pre-existing Amex CA app for Android. Amex Pay will work for any Amex cardmember with Consumer, Small Business, or Corporate Cards issued by Amex Bank of Canada, and an NFC-enabled Android phone with the Amex app installed.
You're able to activate up to six cards on one device, but cards can only be activated for Amex Pay on one device at a time. When you add a card to the app, it creates a Device Card Number — a unique code that pairs your card to your device. If at any point you get a new phone, you must deactivate your cards on your old device before adding them to the new phone. If you happen to lose your Amex card, you can continue to use Amex Pay on your phone as you do while waiting for the replacement card to arrive. Your replacement card will automatically remain linked to your device thanks to the Device Card Number.
There are some caveats, however. Prepaid cards and products (such as the American Express Gift Card) as well as Corporate Purchasing Cards, Global Dollar Cards and Corporate Meeting Cards are not eligible for Amex Pay, and if your phone loses it's connection to the Internet, you are only permitted to make five transactions or authorizations before you are required to reconnect.
If you're an Amex cardholder in Canada and you haven't yet checked out the Amex app, now is as good a time as ever. You'll also get the benefit to manage your accounts with customizable features such as payment due and statement ready alerts, view PDF statements and pending transactions, as well as redeem your rewards points for eligible travel and everyday purchases charged to the card.
