Alpha Card Merchant Services is a subsidiary of Alpha Card, a joint venture company between American Express and BNP Paribas Fortis and the exclusive licensee of the American Express brand in Belgium and Luxembourg.

The new partnership with Worldline, an operator in the payment services industry with a global reach, will see Worldline act as an agent in acquiring merchants onto the American Express network in Belgium. Worldline is now able to offer a complete payment product service to its existing and future merchants by offering all major international schemes inclusive of American Express. It also enables American Express Cardmembers to use their cards at even more merchant locations across Belgium.

American Express is one of the world's leading payments brands and has a strong customer base both in Belgium and worldwide. Willy Walraeve, CEO at Worldline in the Benelux states: "Belgium is the cross point of Europe, for both business and leisure. We want to make sure that Belgian merchants are ready to capture the spending generated by all consumer and corporate customers of American Express, either residing in Belgium or visiting our country. In our drive to generalize a wider usage of electronic payments, we are extremely pleased to be the main Belgian acquirer that offers all our customers a one stop operation and to further contribute towards the growth of their business volumes."

Alpha Card CEO Mike Jordan states: "Partnering with Worldline, a leading player in the market with a solid presence across Belgium, is an important milestone for Alpha Card. Today's deal enables both local and visiting American Express Cardmembers to use their cards at even more locations. In addition, our partnership with Worldline will allow us to rapidly meet their needs and generate additional volumes for our joint merchants."

The addition of the American Express Card acceptance to the existing Worldline's offer begin to take effect from today.