AmEx corporate card users will now be able to use their accounts to pay for in-app and in-store purchases using the Apple Pay mobile payments system.
American Express said Monday morning that customers will now be able to add their corporate cards to their Apple accounts. As of October 2014, AmEx allowed non-corporate cards to be integrated with Apple Pay.
AmEx says it is the first major corporate card to be integrated with Apple Pay.
Apple Pay allows iPhone, Apple Watch and iPad users to upload credit and debit cards to a “mobile wallet” on their phone. Consumers can then use their phone to pay for goods at retail partners who have point-of-sale registers equipped with near field communication technology, known as NFC. Users can also use their accounts to pay for items within apps, if an app developer has Apple Pay integrated. Instead having to enter your credit card info to pay for a flight, or a reservation or meal in a store; you can pay using a card saved in Apple Pay, either by tapping your phone to a terminal, or authenticating a payment within an app using your fingerprint.
Because Apple doesn’t release any concrete numbers on Apple Pay transactions, it’s unclear how much adoption the payments mechanism is getting. But Whole Foods Market recently said that has seen mobile payments increase by more than 400 percent since Apple Pay launched in October 2014.
But the ability to integrate a corporate card could be particularly useful for business travelers, who may want to pay for an Uber or even a flight using the payments system (Delta recently integrated Apple Pay into its mobile app).