This isn’t an SEO post, but I have to go on a rant here because, well, I am blown away that companies continue to be “short sighted” even in a recession.

I went to upgrade my Pandora subscription (online streaming music) so it would be ad-free only to discover that they dont’ take the American Express card. Seriously? In this economy you are going to have a barrier to entry? Make doing business with you difficult? Unreal.

Why is this a big deal? For starters, unlike many Americans, I only use one credit card. I would rather not have the temptation of having many cards and getting into debt. No thank you. It is a personal choice. However, I am also a business owner and I want to make it easy for my customers to do business with me.

Allow me to illustrate …

We all have commercials that we hate. The ones I hate the most are those awful Visa commercials. You know the ones, that feature restaurants, resorts and other places that brag up these places and they end up by stating, “They don’t take American Express.”

Many people who run their own businesses and don’t take the American Express card do so because of the higher fees that AMEX charges. The higher fees are harsh, but you are, in fact, reducing the number of ways a customer can buy from you. American Express has a super strong membership, myself included. In fact, American Express members often only carry one credit card – their AMEX.

If a customer comes across a barrier to buy, more often than not, they go somewhere else, or decide not to buy altogether. Now, if AMEX charges an extra 1% over the other cards and as a business owner, you make a sale of $5,000.00, that is an extra $50.00 you will shell out to American Express. Is it worth it? It is when you look at it from the other side.

When my wife and I got married in 2002, we planned a week long cruise for our honeymoon. At the end of the buying process, the cruise line I picked out said they didn’t take American Express and asked for another card. “That is the only card I use.” They didn’t save $50.00 by not taking American Express; they lost $5,000.00 as I went with another cruise line.

Not accepting the American Express card is just dumb. Bragging about it is even dumber. Don’t be dumb. Let people buy. Period.