Connecting an American Express Card Program

Through our partnership with American Express, Certify is pleased to offer an API-based direct connection to AMEX which automatically retrieves and imports credit card transactions to your users’ Certify Wallets. 

Your company’s AMEX card program only needs to be connected once, by an administrator, but it will need to be re-authorized once a year. Once connected, Administrators will map cards to the appropriate user accounts. End-users will not need to connect their cards, nor will they require AMEX credentials.

This article shows Administrators how to connect US-based, Small Business AMEX credit card programs to Certify. For assistance connecting an AMEX Corporate Card program, please get in touch with your Customer Success Manager or our Support team.

Please Note: For Canadian small business programs, or personal AMEX cards, follow the steps provided here.

1. On the Certify homepage, click the Gear icon.

2. Under System Integrations, click Manage your Card Programs.  

3. Click Add a Card Program.

4. Select AMEX from the drop-down list. 

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5. A window appears, redirecting to the American Express webpage. Enter your AMEX User ID and password to continue.

Please Note: In order to connect your company's AMEX program to Certify, you must authenticate with the program's "Basic Account Holder" or "Source Account".

 

6. Select the applicable card program(s) to connect to Certify, and click Authorize to continue. 

Please Note: Administrators may choose 1 or multiple card programs, however, we strongly suggest connecting one card program at a time. If two or more card programs are connected at the same time, administrators cannot disconnect the card programs individually; they would need to be disconnected together.

Only the primary administrator card will be listed for each card program. All supplemental cards belonging to the program will be available for import in Certify. Administrators have the choice of which cards to import once the connection is complete.

7. American Express will present a confirmation message if the connection is successful. Click Return to Emburse to continue.

8. A final confirmation screen appears. Click the Confirm button after reviewing the card program(s). 

9. Click Return to Certify to complete the connection and map your AMEX cards to the appropriate users.

10. Administrators return to the Card Mapping page. From here, admins can map individual cards associated with the card program to users. The card data may take up to 30 seconds to appear. 

In rare instances, cards may not be available for retrieval at the time of connection. If this occurs, an error message will appear. Certify will email you when the error has been resolved and the cards are ready to be mapped to your user accounts.

 

If prompted to return to the Card Management page, return to the cardholder mapping screen at any time by opening the card program menu and selecting Edit Mapping.

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Mapping AMEX Card Programs 

Once an AMEX Card Program has been connected to Certify, Administrators can begin to assign cards to employees using the provided dropdowns. The Cardholder Name field will display each name associated with the AMEX card.

Please Note: Administrators may map multiple cards to the same employee, however, a single card cannot be mapped to multiple employees.

Cardholder mapping is not required, though any card left unmapped will not import transactions to a Certify account. We recommend mapping all cards to users for easy reconciliation of your company’s AMEX program.

Once a card is mapped to an employee, the card details appear on the employee’s Account Settings page. Employees will not be able to remove their AMEX card from Certify without assistance from their administrators.

Any transaction which occurs after the card has been mapped to the employee’s account will automatically import to their Certify Wallet. For assistance retrieving historical transactions, please contact our Support Team.

Unmapping a Card

1. To change the cardholder mapping or to unmap a card, return to the Manage Your Card Programs screen from the System Configuration page.

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2. Open the menu associated with the AMEX program and select Edit Mapping

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3. On the Cardholder Mapping screen, hover over the mapped employee and click the X  to unmap the card. 

Once a card is unmapped, future transactions associated with this card will not import to an employee’s account. Any previous transactions imported when the card was mapped will remain with the employee.

Please Note: Any card left unmapped will not import transactions to a Certify user. We recommend mapping all cards to a user for easy reconciliation of your company’s AMEX program.

Detecting New Cards

As your company grows, administrators may need to create AMEX cards for new employees. Certify will detect when a new card is created in your company’s AMEX program and email all administrators, informing them that a new card is available and ready to be mapped.

Follow the previous card mapping steps to return to the Cardholder Mapping screen and map the new card to the appropriate employee.

Disconnecting an AMEX Program

Warning: If you plan to re-connect the card program at a later date, we strongly recommend keeping the card program connected and simply unmapping all cards associated with the program. Unmapping the cards will prevent future transactions from importing.

Your company’s AMEX program can be disconnected from Certify if the card program is no longer in use.

To disconnect a card program, return to the Manage Your Card Programs page and click Delete Connection in the Card Program menu.

Token Expiration

American Express has implemented security practices which force a card program's authentication token to expire after one year of connectivity. Certify Administrators will be notified via email and within the application when your card program's token is about to expire.

To prevent any disruptions in transaction import, re-authorization will be required. Follow the steps below to re-authorize the card program:

1. On the Certify homepage, click the Gear icon.

2. Under System Integrations, click Manage your Card Programs.  

3. Click the more actions icon and select Reauthorize.

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