American Express

American Express Company is a U.S. financial holding company and global payments business headquartered in New York. It operates card-issuing, merchant-acquiring, card network, travel, banking, and business-payment activities serving consumers, small and medium-sized enterprises, large corporations, merchants, and network partners in the United States and internationally.^[1]

Overview

American Express is one of the major U.S.-based firms at the intersection of banking, consumer credit, merchant payments, and travel-related financial services. The company is widely associated with charge cards and credit cards, but its corporate structure and revenue model are broader than a simple card issuer. It combines three functions that are often separated in the payment-card industry: it issues many of its own cards, acquires or maintains direct relationships with merchants, and operates a payment network on which American Express-branded transactions are authorized, cleared, and settled.^[1]

The company’s common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol AXP.^[2] American Express is also a publicly reporting company whose annual and periodic reports are filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Its regulatory status is shaped by its position as a bank holding company and financial holding company, which places it under consolidated supervision by the Federal Reserve System.^[3]

American Express’ business model is often described as an integrated payments platform. Through the platform, the company maintains direct relationships with card members and merchants, while also working with third-party issuers, acquirers, processors, aggregators, and partners.^[1] This structure distinguishes American Express from open-loop bankcard networks in which issuing banks, acquiring banks, and the network operator are more clearly separated.

History and corporate development

American Express traces its origins to 1850. The modern corporation was incorporated in New York in 1965, according to the company’s resolution-planning disclosure.^[1] Its early history was associated with express delivery and travel-related financial services, and over time the company became strongly identified with travelers cheques, charge cards, consumer travel services, and premium payment products.

A major regulatory turning point occurred during the 2008 financial crisis. On November 10, 2008, the Federal Reserve Board approved applications by American Express Company and American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. to become bank holding companies. The approval related to the conversion of American Express Centurion Bank in Salt Lake City to a bank and the retention of nonbanking subsidiaries, including American Express Bank, FSB.^[4] This conversion placed the company within the U.S. bank holding company framework, a status that affects capital planning, liquidity, permissible activities, supervision, and resolution planning.

The company’s business has evolved from a travel-and-entertainment orientation into a broader payments, credit, and services enterprise. Its products now include consumer cards, small-business cards, corporate cards, merchant services, travel and lifestyle benefits, business-to-business payment services, cash-management tools, savings and checking products, installment loans, and other financial services offered through affiliates and subsidiaries.^[5]

Business model

American Express earns revenue from several sources connected to card spending, lending, card membership, and services. Discount revenue is generated from merchant fees associated with card transactions. Net card fees are generated from annual or periodic fees on certain card products. Net interest income arises primarily from revolving loan balances and other lending activities. The company also records revenue from service fees and other activities, including travel, foreign exchange, and partner-related services.^[6]

The company’s closed-loop or integrated model gives it visibility into both sides of many card transactions: the card-member side and the merchant side. In its 2025 resolution plan, American Express states that it maintains direct relationships with card members as an issuer and merchants as an acquirer, while also obtaining information from third-party issuers, acquirers, aggregators, and processors through contractual relationships.^[1] The company uses data and analytical tools for fraud reduction, credit underwriting, targeted marketing, special offers, benefits, and service capabilities.^[1]

American Express’ customer base is not limited to individual consumers. It serves small businesses, mid-sized enterprises, large companies, and merchants. Its business products include cards, payment and expense-management tools, supplier payments, non-card business-to-business payments, business checking, and financing products.^[1][5] Its consumer products include charge cards, credit cards, deposit products, travel booking, dining-related services, and lifestyle benefits.^[5]

Main operating activities

American Express’ core operating activities include card issuing, merchant acquiring, network services, and banking.

In card issuing, the company issues American Express-branded cards directly to consumers and businesses. In the United States, American Express National Bank plays an important role in issuing and servicing consumer and small-business credit and charge cards.^[1] Outside the direct-issuance model, the company also works with third-party institutions that issue cards on the American Express network.

In merchant acquiring and network services, American Express manages relationships with merchants that accept its cards and operates infrastructure to process transactions. The company’s merchant-facing business includes acceptance, transaction processing, data services, marketing services, and other capabilities designed to connect merchants with card members. The company states that millions of merchants around the world accept American Express.^[7]

In banking, American Express National Bank accepts deposits and provides selected consumer and business banking products. According to the company’s 2025 resolution plan, American Express National Bank offers credit and charge cards to consumers and small businesses, loans to small and mid-sized enterprise customers, personal unsecured installment loans to consumers, a direct deposits program, and a business checking account for small and mid-sized enterprise customers.^[1]

In travel and lifestyle services, American Express provides travel booking, card-member travel benefits, dining platforms, and premium experiences. These services are connected to the company’s card value proposition, particularly for fee-paying cards, and to its historical position in travel-related financial services.^[5]

American Express National Bank

American Express National Bank, often abbreviated AENB, is the company’s principal insured depository institution. It is a national banking association headquartered in Sandy, Utah, and is wholly owned by American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc., which is itself wholly owned by American Express Company.^[1]

AENB is important to the broader group because it is a funding, issuing, and banking platform. The 2025 resolution plan describes AENB’s deposit-taking activities as a primary source of funding for American Express and states that AENB plays a key role as the company’s U.S. consumer and small-business card-issuing entity.^[1] The bank does not operate a traditional branch network; the resolution plan states that AENB maintains a single corporate office in Sandy, Utah and does not operate retail branches.^[1]

AENB’s prudential regulation is divided across federal agencies. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is its primary prudential regulator. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insures deposits held at AENB and reviews its insured depository institution resolution plan. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau supervises AENB’s consumer financial products and compliance with federal consumer financial laws.^[1]

Regulation and supervision

American Express is regulated both as a public company and as a banking organization. At the public-company level, it files annual, quarterly, and current reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. At the banking-organization level, American Express Company and American Express Travel Related Services Company are bank holding companies under the Bank Holding Company Act and have elected to be treated as financial holding companies.^[1]

As a bank holding company, American Express Company is subject to consolidated supervision and examination by the Federal Reserve System.^[1] The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council’s National Information Center identifies American Express Company as a domestic financial holding company, with the Federal Reserve System listed as its primary federal regulator.^[3]

The financial holding company status permits a broader range of financial and related activities than would be available to a bank holding company that had not made that election, subject to statutory and regulatory conditions. These conditions include capital, managerial, and Community Reinvestment Act-related requirements applicable to the group and its depository institution.^[6]

American Express is also subject to resolution-planning requirements. Its 2025 public resolution plan states that the company became a Category III banking organization on August 19, 2024, which again made it subject to requirements to submit a resolution plan. The plan describes a hypothetical strategy for resolving the company in a rapid and orderly manner without significant impact on U.S. financial stability.^[1]

Financial profile

For the year ended December 31, 2025, American Express reported total revenues net of interest expense of $72.229 billion and net income of $10.833 billion.^[8] The same SEC filing reported billed business of $1.6698 trillion for 2025, compared with $1.5509 trillion for 2024.^[8] These figures reflect the scale of card-member spending on the American Express platform and the combination of merchant-fee, lending, fee, and service revenues that support the company’s income statement.

American Express reported 86.6 million proprietary cards-in-force worldwide as of December 31, 2025, and worldwide billed business of $1.670 trillion on cards issued by the company for the year ended December 31, 2025.^[5] A broader company metric reported in its 2026 proxy statement stated that cards-in-force issued on the global American Express network reached 152.8 million in 2025, including proprietary and network cards.^[9]

The company’s results are influenced by consumer and business spending volumes, travel and entertainment activity, goods and services spending, credit performance, interest rates, funding costs, reward costs, card-member services expenses, merchant acceptance, and competition from other card issuers and payment networks. Its revenue mix differs from some banks because merchant discount revenue and card fees are central to the business, while lending and deposit-taking are important but not the only drivers of earnings.

Competitive position in U.S. payments

American Express competes in several overlapping markets. In card issuing, it competes with large banks and financial institutions, including JPMorgan Chase, that issue credit cards and provide consumer banking services. In payment networks, it competes with other card networks and alternative payment systems. In merchant services, it competes with acquirers, processors, fintech companies, and bank-owned merchant-service platforms. In deposits and lending, American Express National Bank competes with online banks, national banks, and other deposit-taking institutions.

A defining feature of the company’s U.S. competitive position is its focus on customer segments that value rewards, travel, service, and business-spending tools. American Express’ premium cards often carry annual fees and include rewards, statement credits, lounge access, travel protections, merchant offers, and other benefits. The economics of these cards depend on a balance among fee revenue, spending volume, merchant acceptance, reward costs, credit risk, and customer retention.

Merchant acceptance has historically been an important strategic issue for American Express. The company states that American Express is accepted at 99% of places in the United States that accept credit cards, based on the February 2022 Nilson Report.^[7] In the United States, broad merchant coverage reduces a historical disadvantage relative to larger open-loop networks, while international acceptance and economics can vary by country and merchant category.

Relationship to the broader financial system

American Express is not a central bank, deposit insurer, securities regulator, or government-sponsored enterprise. It is a private financial institution operating within a regulatory framework that includes the Federal Reserve System, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The company’s banking status connects it to bank-capital, liquidity, stress-testing, and resolution-planning rules. Its public-company status connects it to securities-law disclosure requirements. Its card-network and merchant-acquiring activities connect it to payment-system rules, data-security obligations, consumer-protection laws, anti-money-laundering requirements, sanctions compliance, and operational-resilience expectations.

American Express therefore occupies a hybrid position in U.S. finance: it is a payments network, a card issuer, a merchant-services provider, a deposit-taking banking organization through AENB, and a public company. This combination makes it relevant to topics in banking, consumer credit, payment systems, merchant acquiring, and financial regulation.