Bluechain and American Express part ways – no more bills or HMRC spend via Amex cards

We have covered Bluechain, a company which allows you to pay invoices, business or personal, with a credit card, a couple of times in the last few months.

Bluechain charges your credit card, adds a small fee and sends a bank transfer to the company or person to whom you owe money. Easy. You can even use it to pay Council Tax and HMRC.

Even better, it worked with American Express as well as Mastercard and Visa.

Unfortunately, American Express and Bluechain have parted ways.

According to an email sent to users:

Our merchant agreement with American Express was recently cancelled with limited notice, meaning we are now unable to accept Amex payments via the platform.

Initially, during a period of planned maintenance, we explored solutions that would avoid disruption to our service. However, it’s now clear that this issue will not be resolved swiftly.

We understand how frustrating this is — especially for those of you who rely on Amex for business spending and rewards — and we’re truly sorry for the disruption.

We know the story behind this (well, we know one side of it) but we won’t repeat it here. American Express has been a Bluechain partner since 2023 and originally saw it as a way of increasing its presence in the SME market.

Bluechain still works with Visa and Mastercard

It is still possible to use Bluechain to settle invoices using a Visa or Mastercard.

Bluechain has reduced its Visa / Mastercard fee from 2.5% to 2.3% to match the rate that it offered for American Express payments.

2.3% could be a decent deal if you can use Bluechain to help you trigger a sign-up bonus or annual spend voucher on a Visa or Mastercard credit card, such as:

• the annual upgrade voucher at £20,000 of spend on the free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard (card review here)

• the annual upgrade voucher at £10,000 of spend on the £20 / month Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard (card review here)

• the annual 2-4-1 or upgrade voucher at £20,000 of spend on the free Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard (card review here)

• the annual 2-4-1 or upgrade voucher at £10,000 of spend on the £160 / year Virgin Atlantic Reward Plus Mastercard (card review here)

It’s also potentially a good deal if it helps you trigger the sign-up bonuses on these cards.

Is it worth it for day to day spend?

For a business – potentially yes, because the Bluechain fee is a tax deductible expense. This means that you are NOT paying 2.3% in return for your loyalty points. You can deduct your marginal tax rate.

For an individual – it is unlikely to make sense purely for the points you earn on the transaction. However …. it is potentially worth it if you need some additional card spend to push you across the line for a new card sign-up bonus or an annual voucher.

Here’s a day to day spend example

Here’s an example of where it might work. The Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard earns 1.5 Avios per £1 spent.

Let’s assume your tax rate from your business is 42% including NI. If you receive a mix of dividends and salary you need to adjust this slightly.

Here’s the maths for someone who is self employed:

• You use Bluechain to pay a £10,000 bill on your Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard
• You pay a fee of £230 which you expense to your business
• You receive 15,345 Avios for your spending
• Your NET fee after the 42% tax shield is £133.40
• Your ‘price per Avios’ is 0.87p

0.87p per Avios is not the greatest deal ever BUT it is pretty good. If you are a HfP reader you should be able to get far more than this per Avios redeemed.

Note that there is no VAT on the Bluechain fee so a VAT-registered business does not make an extra saving.

Get a £10 Amazon voucher with your first payment via HfP

Bluechain is free to join. You only pay when you make a payment through the platform.

Bluechain is still offering a £10 Amazon voucher to any HfP reader who signs up.

You will receive your voucher by email after your first transaction has been made.

This is how it works:

• Sign up for Bluechain via this link – there is no mention of HfP but the click will be tracked as coming from us

• Within two working days you will receive an email confirming you are registered for the HfP Amazon voucher offer

• If you do not receive an email within seven days of registering, email katie [at] headforpoints.com and tell her the day you registered and the email address you used – she will ensure you are added

• You will receive your Amazon voucher within 30 days of making your first Bluechain payment (in reality we expect it to be quicker)

Please note that this offer is only available to first time Bluechain account holders.

You can find out more about Bluechain on its website here. Do NOT register via that page or you will not receive your voucher.

You MUST register via this link (click) to receive your £10 Amazon voucher.

If you are signing up as a private individual, click ‘Skip’ on the page where you are asked if you are a Sole Trader or Limited Company.

Conclusion

It is a shame that Bluechain and American Express have parted ways. I had got used to putting £10,000 of HMRC spend each month through my American Express Business Platinum card and picking up 20,000 Membership Rewards points in return.

Bluechain is still operating, however. It is worth a look if you need to trigger a sign-up bonus or annual voucher on a Visa or Mastercard and if you have a high tax rate and can expense the fee it may also work long term with the right credit card.