American Express has joined forces with First National Merchant Solutions, a provider of payment processing services for credit, debit and other payment types, to provide small businesses wanting to accept American Express Cards with a new processing option.

Under the terms of the deal, apart from its role as an external sales agent, First National Merchant Solutions will be able to sign up, set up, support and service small businesses, as part of the American Express' OnePoint project. The card issuer will continue to authorise transactions while First National Merchant Solutions' processing role will also include processing and handling payments, customer service and disputes. First National Merchant Solutions has been offering American Express Card processing services for over six years.

First National Merchant Solutions' payment processing solutions include credit and debit card processing, prepaid card processing and program management, e-commerce processing, electronic benefit transfer processing and check guarantee, authorization and collection.