Fun fact: At M&S, 12% of payments taken online for delivery to London addresses are paid by Amex. The rest of the country? <3%.

Any idea why Amex would be so popular in London?

I'd never even consider an Amex card due to my perception of it being something that many places won't even accept.

People with higher incomes can afford Amex's Platinum card, which includes good travel insurance, good customer service, access to a good hotel booking program, airport lounge access, boosted status with a few airlines, etc. Most places in the UK that cater to this segment also accept Amex.

However, it's a charge card and not a credit card, so it does need to be paid off in full every month.

My guess:

Lots of business meetings in London -> merchants need to accept Amex company cards -> people realize acceptance is high -> people look into Amex for their personal usage, for instance to enjoy higher rewards.

Amex is more widely accepted in London, but thats a bit of a catch-22.

Amex also has many more premium card with annual fees , travel perks etc which might be more relevant for someone living in London.

London has a much higher [wealthy] international populous than the rest of the country. Amex business model is all about having a card that is accepted globally, and comes with lots of nice perks for the [wealthy] traveller.

Amex grants significantly higher credit limits than most banks. Londoners like to live an aspirational lifestyle in a hugely-overpriced city.

>hugely-overpriced city

If you compare the rental flats with other top European cities, it’s really not overpriced.

Look at a 6k eur pcm flat in Barcelona and London, in Barcelona you will find slightly bigger flats with terrible build quality and services. In London you’ll get top quality fit and finish with excellent services.

Good luck finding a building with a decent concierge team in most European capitals. It’s almost unheard of.

Luxury product for rich people? Yeah, of course. Overpriced? Definitely not, there simply aren’t any viable alternatives to settle in.

See my previous blog post on this subject: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26926718

Really? Sure it doesn't have to do with the bank backing it? My Amex card has the second lowest limit of all my credit cards at a measly $6,500 whereas I have other cards with $30,000, $25,000, and $20,000 limits. Only one lower is my target card but they are known for having low limits.

I have a UK perspective. Here, to get a VISA-backed bank to grant you more than 6-8k is a real struggle, whereas Amex will happily start at 10-12k and grow from there.

Some people (myself included) have a British Airways AmEx card to get a BA companion voucher every year.

There's also a cashback card which is worthwhile over a certain expected spend.

Amex is positioned as a premium card for high earners, who mostly live in London.

Buisiness use.

Status symbol?

I had my wallet nicked in Padstow on the last day of a trip there and was just about take the 3.5 hour drive home. Problem was I didn't have enough fuel to make it. My CC providers took ages to even answer the phone and cancel the cards. Amex dealt with it a just a few mins, arranged to courier a replacement card to me by the next day and authorised a fuelling stop for me on my way home. I'll never be without one, ever.

I had a similar experience in Washington. Amex had an international courier deliver a new card within days. In the UK, the three companies that won't lose my custom (unless things go very downhill) are Amex, NFU Mutual and firstdirect. In my dealings with each, their staff come across as competent and efficient, with a get-stuff-done attitude and evidently empowered to make their own decisions.

Out of curiosity, how did they manage to get you money without you having a physical card?

I went to an agreed petrol station, they'd authorised spend there. From memory, I think I just told them my name and that was all I needed to do: fill up, thank the staff, drive off.

Fair point, I wasn't aware of this feature.

How did they authorize a fueling stop?

They aren't that common.

Only 2 of the high street banks offer them, and one is moving away from them.

The rest are all Mastercard.

Barclaycard was the most popular credit card in the UK at one point and they have ten million customers. As far as I know, they only offer visa credit cards.

Not sure about the UK but here in France Amazon has just started promoting a co-branded Amazon Amex card.

Those have existed in Germany for a long time. I got one, but canceled it after using up the 50€ they gave me because the banking interface of their partner was atrocious.

In the UK Amazon has had a co-branded Mastercard credit card for at least a decade.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29250661 is saying the opposite so what is it?

Presumably confusion between debit (where Visa is common) and credit (where it isn't).

HSBC credit cards were visa. I assume they'll change as first direct has.

I got a new HSBC credit card just the other day - still Visa. If they're planning to change, they're taking their sweet time about it...

HSBC and barclaycard are both Visa credit cards. Not sure about the rest

I never knew Visa even has credit cards, only knew about MC and I know plenty of people who use Amex for everyday shopping. It's my default for pretty much ALL online payments, even grocery deliveries.