A tweet about American Express prompted us to research the company’s relationships with merchants.

An interesting article at Bargainer highlights the average fees merchants pay to credit card companies.

Want a peek behind the curtains? This is it.

JShuey is satisfied:

Kudos to American Express. I gave them a chance to make something right (reversing a usurious service charge) and they did it.

Naturally, your credit card company won’t always satisfy you with their response. In some occasions, complaining will simply end up taking time instead of earning you refunds.

However, tweets like JShuey’s are good reminders of the power of simply getting in touch with your credit card company.

Remember: in order to get credit, you have to take it.

Zethos unearths a cryptic note:

American Express’s idea of “secure passwords” are short alpha/numeric only because it stops programs guessing them http://bit.ly/a6oItN

We’ll leave you to decide whether the following link is true, false, logical, or a little weird. But it’s an interesting way to go about security.

Karfabulous is excited:

Also looking4ward to turn 18 because I think I can start applying for Credit Cards.. well just the VISA.. But I really want American Express

There are a number of things you can do when you turn 18, but one of the important ones is applying for credit.

If you haven’t gotten credit through a parent, 18 is a good place to start. Student credit cards are probably the most accessible. Naturally, you don’t have to spend wrecklessly once you have a card, but you can start building …

Aperiodicone is going shopping:

Costco doesn’t take manufacturer coupons and only take American Express. Odd.

Why does Costco only take American Express?

There are a few American Express Costco Cards, including the TrueEarnings Card. But why doesn’t Costco take other cards?

The reason is that American Express charges Costco particularly low interchange fees on each purchase. Because Costco is cheap (that shouldn’t be a revelation), they only choose to accept credit cards with very low rates.

Want to work around the system and use your normal credit card? Online gift cards …

SteveCase points out an interesting highlight of 2009:

Hats off to American Express on being the top Dow stock of 2009 (The Economist) http://bit.ly/5liOhb

The full article details American Express’s unique position in the market. The company originally thrived off a focus on charge cards, but strayed in the 90s. Now that it’s re-emphasizing the charge card model, profits are responding.

TakingCredit can’t help but delve into occasional gossip.

We reported when American Express sued Courtney Love for outstanding bills.

Now the star is countersuing.

In the first story, we cautioned against having outstanding debt. In the second, we’ll provide a different lesson- if you believe your card company has wrongly billed you, you have rights. Remember that.

Today, we were alerted to some interesting analysis of American Express’s purchase of Revolution Money.

We don’t know what it signifies for the rest of the payments industry. However, it is true that credit card companies are willing to evolve and grow. What exactly that means has yet to be determined.

Ripresa needs some help:

is trying out american express roadside assistance to see if they actually will take care of her.

What is American Express Roadside Assistance?

Basically, roadside assistance is comparable to AAA. There’s towing service, lockout help, and other basics that you may need if you’re marooned on the side of the road. The service is bundled with most cards. However, make sure to read the fine print- the coverage only extends to the first $50, so you’ll probably end up paying some of the cost out of …

Bchao524 shares a funny story from the credit frontlines:

American Express just offered me (19 year male college student) a $5000 credit limit. Sign that the economy is better or just terrifying?

It’s a funny take on a common situation.

We won’t comment on the economy or whether Bchao524 should take the deal.

However, it is an interesting opportunity to explain the unusual way credit works. It’s easy to conflate credit limits with debt. We think that high credit limit might lead to high debt. That isn’t necessarily the case.

If you can …