Connect an American Express Business Card Program

The Cards Program feature allows admins to invite all American Express card users to integrate their US-based corporate or business cards with Abacus. This gives your organization increased control, enhanced visibility, automatic reconciliations, and real-time insights into spending and expense management. Additionally, enrolling an American Express Business or Corporate card into a virtual card program enables pre-approved spending controls to reinforce company spend policy.

An admin may enroll in multiple American Express Card Programs. All of them will be displayed on the Card Programs screen.

Set Up American Express Business Cards

1. Click on the Gear icon in the top right of Abacus, and then click on Card Programs in the Company Settings menu.

2. Click Add Card Program.

3. Select American Express as your financial institution. 

4. Click Import Business card transactions. 

5. Click Continue to American Express

6. After confirming to continue to American Express, you will be prompted to input your American Express Manage Your Card Account (MYCA) User ID and Password.

• Make sure you are using the credentials that you use to log in to your Cards and Banking features. These credentials may differ from your American Express @ Work login.
• If you don't have these credentials, you can select Forgot User ID or Password. If you're a new American Express customer, you can create a new online account. 
• Having the primary cardholder or an authorized account manager on hand will streamline the set-up process. Otherwise, they will be notified via email to approve the enrollment, which can cause delays.

7. Enter the Card Number and Card ID for the Amex card you wish to integrate with Abacus.

8. Next, you'll be asked to select the correct Small Business Card account to connect with Emburse.

9. Once the correct card has been selected, a successful authorization will be displayed. Click Return to Emburse.

Sync Corporate Card Expenses to Accounting Software

Click on the Gear icon in the top right of Abacus, and then click on Accounting Integration in the Company Settings menu to connect either a single card feed or multiple card feeds to the integrated accounting software.

Select the type of sync you would like to set up.

• If you have one card feed in your accounting system, select the second option and it will automatically populate.

• If you have multiple card feeds in your accounting system, select the third option. You will need to map each card to the correct feed. Click None to view a drop-down menu of available card feeds. Click Save once each card is mapped.

Once your card feed is set up, transactions are synced directly into your accounting software after being approved by an admin and automatically matched to the card feed. Selecting your card feed here is required for the sync to match transactions to the correct card feed in your accounting platform.

Reauthorize Your Connection

American Express has implemented security practices that force a card program's authentication token to expire after 90 days of connectivity. 

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

1. Click the gear in the top right corner to open the Company Settings page.

2. In the Company Settings sidebar, select Card Programs.

3. You will see a warning message below the Card Program Name indicating that it has been disconnected. Click Re-connect your card and follow the steps that appear to re-authorize the connection.