American Express extends partnership with HICAPS for easier health payments

American Express has expanded its partnership with HICAPS, the leading healthcare claiming solution in Australia, enabling 90,000 healthcare providers across the country to accept American Express.

The arrangement will also allow American Express Card Members to earn Membership Rewards points during their visits to HICAPS providers, the company states.

This expanded collaboration coincides with the roll-out of HICAPS new Trinity Payment Terminals, designed to streamline patient payment experiences and fast-track claim processing among all private health insurers in Australia.

For healthcare practices, this reduces the need to manually input claims, transactions, and quotes, significantly cutting down on administrative tasks.

Robert Tedesco, Vice President & General Manager of Global Merchant Services at American Express, underscored the value of this partnership for the health industry, stating, "Digitisation and automation is a priority for many businesses wanting to simplify the payments process, both for customers and themselves."

"Today's announcement bolsters our commitment to supporting healthcare providers by removing friction at the checkout, while allowing our Card Members to earn reward points for essential health services needed every year."

Tedesco also highlighted potential advantages for businesses that accept American Express, pointing out that "71% of American Express Card Members say they are more likely to return to a business that accepts American Express. With that, we hope healthcare providers will see increased customer loyalty and repeat business with American Express automatically enabled in their payment process."

The expansion of this partnership aims to streamline the process of paying for health bills, a common issue for healthcare practices and patients alike, according to Simon Terry, an Executive for HICAPS.

"One of the most common pain points for both practices and patients when it comes to paying a health bill is speed and flexibility. HICAPS has been dedicated to delivering ease, speed, and reliability and since 2014 we've achieved this in partnership with American Express."

Serving more than 90,000 healthcare providers across Australia, this advancement is anticipated to further reduce administrative complexity for practices and offer more payment choices to patients.

Terry added, "We're proud to support more than 90,000 healthcare providers across Australia and today's announcement will help further reduce administration and complexity for practices, while offering more choice to patients."

The new Trinity Payment Terminals are currently being rolled out, covering American Express payment acceptance for various providers, including dentists, chiropractors, physiotherapists, and general practices. The rollout is expected to be completed by the end of 2024.