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B&Q will now accept American Express cards

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Just in time for a Bank Holiday weekend full of DIY, American Express has announced that B&Q will now accept its cards.

A reader tipped us off about this last week after seeing a sign in his local store, but forgot to take a photograph. Rhys and I both headed down to our respective local B&Q stores looking for evidence but couldn’t find any. The rumours were true, however.

For years, B&Q was the company we always mentioned as the exception when discussing ‘who accepts American Express?’. If you were ultra-dedicated, you would go to Tesco or another retailer to buy B&Q gift cards with your American Express card, but this wasn’t exactly ideal or practical for most people.

I’m not sure who the biggest hold-out is now. Aldi and Lidl both take American Express. Costa Coffee seems to have pulled back from its decision to stop taking American Express this month, as the ‘no more Amex’ signs quietly disappeared.

For clarity, I am not sure of the exact day that this kicks in. It will definitely be in place before the Bank Holiday weekend but it might not be working today.

Based on what we’ve seen when Amex has brought other major partners on board, we may see a cashback offer popping up to encourage cardholders to visit and to show B&Q it is getting a return on its investment.

If you will now spend more time in B&Q, remember to join B&Q Club. You receive reward vouchers based on your spending and all new members receive a £5 discount voucher, valid on a £30 purchase.

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Comments (129)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Vasco says:
    18 May18 May 16:54

    Gain B&Q, but lose Costa 🙁

    • Youllnever says:
      18 May18 May 16:57

      Per the article, “Costa Coffee seems to have pulled back from its decision to stop taking American Express this month, as the ‘no more Amex’ signs quietly disappeared.”

      • Vasco says:
        18 May18 May 16:59

        Still in their FAQs though https://www.costa.co.uk/faqs

        Anyone tried to use AMEX there since the 12th?

        • Rob says:
          18 May18 May 16:59

          Yes, me. Worked fine. Could have been a franchise store of course but another reader posted last week that “I’ve actually heard from a mate who works at Costa that they may be reversing that decision. The stores have been told to retain and continue using all the Amex POS materials.”

          • Vasco says:
            18 May18 May 17:02

            There you go then

          • C says:
            18 May18 May 19:45

            Used Amex in Costa today.

          • RussellH says:
            18 May18 May 21:25

            So some Costas are owned, while others are franchised?
            First time I went to my local Costa (4/5 years ago?) was puzzled that they did not take Amex, as all the others I had been in did.
            Even more unsettling was seeing a Costa in the far NW of England showing up on the card statement as being in the same part of west London as where we all grew up.

          • Rob says:
            18 May18 May 22:36

            The ones in stations and airports will likely be run by SSP.

          • ee says:
            19 May19 May 19:03

            Also have used Amex in Costa on 16th May. Non franchised store and no issues.

        • Youllnever says:
          18 May18 May 17:03

          Worked fine in-store. It does seem to be the case that they no longer accept Amex if you’re paying via the Costa mobile app, although I’m not sure if they ever did.

  • Sam says:
    18 May18 May 16:54

    I think Wickes has also recently accepted AMEX when I went in this week? From my memory they still didn’t take AMEX a couple of weeks back.

  • soloflyer1977 says:
    18 May18 May 16:55

    I was in B&Q Watford yesterday. The Amex symbol is on full display next to the cash register, alongside Visa and MC.

  • Magic Mike says:
    18 May18 May 16:58

    Screwfix? (owned by Kingfisher, same as B&Q)

    • NvT1115 says:
      18 May18 May 17:01

      Just check out via PayPal at Screwfix

      • Matthew says:
        18 May18 May 17:25

        PayPal never works for me with Amex for screwfix. Always get an error…

        • James Pleasant says:
          18 May18 May 18:05

          PayPal + Amex @Screwfix works fine for me x about 50 purchases.

          They have some great clearance items, 100 big brass screws for about £1.50 etc

        • Sam G says:
          18 May18 May 18:32

          Works for me. Just a bit of a pain if you need to return something

  • Michael says:
    18 May18 May 16:59

    Need to get KFC to take Amex now.

    • Youllnever says:
      18 May18 May 17:05

      This and Subway.

      • Erico1875 says:
        18 May18 May 17:22

        I’ve used Alex in Subway

      • stevenhp1987 says:
        18 May18 May 17:24

        Subway is a franchise.

        Most won’t take Amex but a few franchises do.

        • Youllnever says:
          18 May18 May 17:36

          Suspected it might a franchise issue. I haven’t ever been to a Subway branch that accepted it, so wasn’t sure.

      • the_real_a says:
        18 May18 May 21:29

        Oddly my local subway franchise installed a new hand espresso machine and now serves one of the best lattes in town. All for 100 subway points… now we just need subway to be an AMEX MR partner.

    • Anuj says:
      18 May18 May 17:06

      I’m sure kfc must do

      • Super Secret Stuff says:
        18 May18 May 17:15

        Surprisingly they don’t take it unless you order via an online platform such as deliveroo

      • Alex says:
        18 May18 May 17:43

        Yeah KFC biggest hold out i know of…again though could be a franchise thing?

        • Mike says:
          18 May18 May 21:02

          I think hell would freeze over before I stepped foot into a KFC

    • Chrisasaurus says:
      18 May18 May 20:44

      Mmmmmm hard pass there thanks

    • Sam says:
      18 May18 May 21:26

      and B&M

  • Stuart says:
    18 May18 May 16:59

    I tried to use Amex in Costa last week and was told they no longer take it.

  • Peter K says:
    18 May18 May 17:16

    Julian will be pleased.

  • Mr(s) Entitled says:
    18 May18 May 17:19

    Curve?

    • Alex says:
      18 May18 May 17:43

      curve don’t use Amex so doesn’t help

      • Youllnever says:
        18 May18 May 17:50

        I think they meant if Curve would accept Amex too. Think this is highly unlikely though, what with the public spat they had.

        • Alex says:
          18 May18 May 17:58

          Now that really would be helpful, but i agree it’s highly unlikely. Unless a fee is involved to top-up curve with amex. Free for metal users maybe. but that would still cost curve a lot probably

          • Sam says:
            18 May18 May 21:33

            It did happened before, it was AMEX who blocked Curve from accepting Amex shortly after the launch of Curve so it’s not a concern on fees curve to pay but more of Amex doesn’t want to play.

        • Mr(s) Entitled says:
          18 May18 May 21:51

          I meant as you surmised. Curve is the biggest anomaly and would be a lot more useful than KFC or whomever. But given it is Amex’s choice I don’t forsee any change. Curve’s chat about legal action appears to have come to naught.

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