Sue Ryder reaps the benefits of accepting American Express

We’re delighted that much-loved UK charity Sue Ryder began accepting American Express in its 400 charity shops and its online store in September 2022. To celebrate our blossoming new partnership, our Merchant Services team spent a day at the Sue Ryder shop in Golders Green, London. On the day, we asked Sue Ryder leaders Martin Wildsmith and Katy Faulkner how they’d found partnering with American Express and how the extra spending power of our Cardmembers is supporting the charity’s vital fundraising goals. 

Sue Ryder is one of the UK’s most popular charities and supports anyone who is living with a terminal illness, a neurological condition or bereavement. For over 65 years its doctors, nurses and carers have helped people to live the best life they possibly can. As Head of Retail Business Development Katy Faulkner explains, Sue Ryder’s shops are “absolutely vital” in “raising essential funds that go directly towards delivering” the charity’s vital services across the UK.

Amex support helped implementation go smoothly

With retail sales so important to its fundraising mission, it was vital to Sue Ryder that implementing American Express was a smooth process that didn’t put too much strain on its resources. Thankfully, Katy has been impressed with how our team guided the charity through the process. “We got excellent support from American Express,” she says. “They really stepped us through that journey… in the smoothest way possible and at the pace we were able to go at.”

Cardmembers’ spending power makes a real difference 

The extra spending power of American Express Cardmembers can make a huge difference to any business, and Sue Ryder has already seen this crucial benefit. “Customers paying with the American Express card are spending more than our other customers,” confirms Sue Ryder’s Director of Retail and Estates, Martin Wildsmith. In fact, the charity says that customers using Amex cards are already spending about £3 more per transaction than other credit card customers. That’s in keeping with our research that shows our Cardmembers spend about four times more each year, and three times more frequently, than the average UK credit card user.¹ For any charity retailer, accepting American Express doesn’t just increase sales, it can attract more donations too, from a higher-spending, more affluent customer base.

After such a positive start to our partnership, Martin is keen to recommend American Express to other charities. “I’d recommend to any charity retailer that they talk to Amex,” he says. “It brings a different opportunity and a different customer.”

American Express connects merchants with customers

Partnering with Amex gives our merchants access to powerful marketing platforms to attract new customers, boost brand awareness, build existing customer loyalty, drive footfall and increase sales, all at no additional cost. In tough economic times, this is a cost-effective way to access a valuable database of high-spending individuals and sophisticated marketing tools that target the best potential customers.

Amex offers powerful marketing channels 

“We have access to a lot of data on our customers and our merchants,” explains Louis Ross, Director – UK Marketing, Merchant Services. “If you’re an American Express merchant, we’ll be recommending your brand and your location to Cardmembers that we know would love to visit you.” One of the ways we do this is through our award-winning Amex Offers platform on the American Express App, which helps merchants to reach the most valuable potential customers with cost-effective offers and promotions.

American Express is also committed to supporting small, independent businesses to thrive. For the past decade, our Shop Small campaign has encouraged and incentivised our Cardmembers to support local community businesses by rewarding them with cashback every time they spend in a participating business.

How American Express supports charities 

As a company, American Express has a long tradition of philanthropy and we’re proud to go the extra mile to support the communities we work in. Give2Gether, for example, is our colleague-donation matching program that’s supported community organisations for decades. It gives our 6,000 UK colleagues the chance to support causes they choose while the company matches their donations. For our charity customers, American Express can offer donation matching of up to £10,000.

We were also delighted to recently donate a host of items used in our marketing events, ranging from warm jackets to deck chairs, for Sue Ryder to resell in its stores, and we’re keen to explore other fundraising, volunteering and event opportunities. “We’re seeing added value from our relationship with American Express already,” says Sarah Pye, the charity’s Corporate Partnerships Manager. “They made a huge donation of goods which will be sent out to our shops to raise even more funds for us.”

Our message to charities 

As well as Sue Ryder, American Express is already accepted by a host of leading UK charities including Barnardo’s, Shelter and Save The Children, plus the charity fundraising platforms Just Giving and Charity Extra.

So if you’re a charity that doesn’t currently accept American Express cards, why not find out more about what we offer. We think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Sources:

¹ American Express internal data for United Kingdom Cardmembers spending across Europe (2021).