stockrowWhat it does
American Express is a global payments and premium lifestyle brand powered by technology. It was founded in 1850, is headquartered in New York, and is led by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Stephen J. Squeri.
The company issues credit, charge and debit cards to consumers, small businesses, mid-sized companies and large corporations. It also provides travel, dining, lifestyle, expense-management, banking, deposit, lending and payment products. Card Members can use products through mobile and online applications, direct marketing, sales teams, partner channels and other distribution arrangements.
American Express also signs merchants to accept its cards, sets or negotiates merchant discount rates in many cases, processes and settles transactions, and provides merchant servicing, fraud prevention, marketing and data products. Its network connects Card Members, merchants, third-party card issuers, acquirers, processors and payment facilitators. Third-party banks and institutions in approximately 110 countries and territories can issue American Express-branded cards or acquire local merchants on its network.
The company operates four reportable segments: U.S. Consumer Services, Commercial Services, International Card Services and Global Merchant and Network Services. These businesses are designed to work together: American Express has direct relationships with both cardholders and merchants in much of its business, rather than operating only a transaction network.
How it makes money
American Express earns revenue mainly when Card Members spend: its largest revenue source is discount revenue, the portion of the merchant payment it retains for facilitating a card transaction. Merchant discount rates vary with factors including the merchant’s industry, transaction volume, payment method, settlement terms, transaction characteristics and geography.
It also earns interest on outstanding loan balances, annual card membership fees, and service and other revenue. The last category includes network-partnership royalties and fees, transaction-facilitation fees, foreign-currency fees, delinquency fees, travel commissions, merchant-service fees and income or losses from certain investments.
The issuing segments—U.S. Consumer Services, Commercial Services and International Card Services—serve consumers and businesses that hold American Express-issued cards. Global Merchant and Network Services manages merchant acceptance and network relationships. U.S. Consumer Services was the largest segment by FY2025 revenue, at $15.6 billion and 37.8% of revenue. The company also offers deposits, consumer installment loans, small-business lines of credit, checking, savings and business-to-business payment products, creating revenue streams beyond card spending.
For FY2025, net income was $10.8 billion; for Q3 2026, revenue was $20.1 billion. Management said that Q3 2026 net card-fee revenue grew 17% on a foreign-exchange-adjusted basis, while net interest income grew 10%. The company charges annual fees on many card products and uses spending-, lending- and fee revenue to fund rewards, benefits, marketing and merchant payment solutions.
| Segment | Revenue, FY2025 | Share | Change on the year |
|---|---|---|---|
| USCS | $15.6 billion | 37.8% | 7.91% |
| CS | $11.9 billion | 28.7% | 2.57% |
| ICS | $7.5 billion | 18.3% | 11.5% |
| GMNS | $6.3 billion | 15.3% | 4.21% |
Customers and how it sells
American Express serves premium consumers as well as small businesses, mid-sized companies and large corporations. It seeks high-spending, engaged and creditworthy Card Members and offers rewards, benefits, travel and lifestyle services, lending and business-payment tools. Small-business and corporate clients represented approximately 41 percent of worldwide billed business during 2025.
The United States is the company’s largest geography, generating $56.0 billion of FY2025 revenue, or 77.6%. EMEA generated $7.1 billion, APAC generated $5.2 billion and LACC generated $4.2 billion. Significant billed-business jurisdictions include the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Australia, Japan, Canada and Mexico.
American Express had 86.6 million proprietary cards-in-force worldwide at December 31, 2025. Its third-party network partners had issued 66.2 million cards-in-force worldwide. The company reaches customers through digital applications, affiliate marketing, referrals, third-party providers, business partners, sales teams, direct mail, telephone and advertising.
Delta is its largest strategic partner. The Delta cobrand portfolio represented approximately 13 percent of worldwide billed business and approximately 21 percent of worldwide Card Member loans at December 31, 2025.
| Region | Revenue, FY2025 | Share | Change on the year |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $56.0 billion | 77.6% | 8.83% |
| EMEA | $7.1 billion | 9.79% | 13.8% |
| APAC | $5.2 billion | 7.22% | 11.1% |
| LACC | $4.2 billion | 5.81% | 9.08% |
| Other Unallocated | −$271.0 million | −0.38% | — |
Suppliers and costs
American Express relies on business partners for cobrand cards, rewards, merchant acceptance, travel and dining benefits, card distribution, payment processing and business-payment integrations. Partners named by the company include Delta, Marriott International, British Airways, Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Amazon.com, Coinbase, Credit Saison, Emburse and SAP Concur. It makes payments to cobrand partners that can be significant and are generally linked to Card Member spending, rewards, acquired accounts or retained accounts.
Major operating costs include Card Member rewards, Card Member services, business development, marketing, salaries and benefits, technology, customer servicing, risk management and credit-loss provisions. Rewards, services and business-development expenses generally move with transaction volumes and customer usage. Management said that variable customer-engagement costs were 44.3% of Q3 2026 revenue.
American Express recorded a $336.0 million restructuring charge in Q3 2026. Management said the restructuring was expected to eliminate approximately 5.00% of global positions as the company reduces organizational layers and reallocates capacity toward business priorities.
- Revenue$80.5B
- Cost of revenue−$8.2B
- Selling, general and administrative−$58.4B
- Operating income$13.8B
Competitive position
American Express competes with card networks, card issuers, merchant acquirers, processors, payment facilitators, digital wallets, point-of-sale lenders and other payment methods. In global card networks, it names Visa, China UnionPay, Mastercard, JCB, Discover and Diners Club International. The company is the fourth-largest general-purpose card network globally by purchase volume, behind Visa, China UnionPay and Mastercard.
In premium cards, management identified Citi, Capital One and Chase as competitors. PayPal and Shop Pay compete as web- and mobile-based payment platforms. In middle-market commercial payments and expense management, management identified Ramp and Brex as competitors. Competition also covers cobrand relationships, merchant pricing, deposit rates, airport lounges, dining, travel benefits, rewards and digital capabilities.
Our reading: American Express has a meaningful moat from its integrated model because it directly connects Card Members and merchants and uses data from both sides of transactions for underwriting, fraud control, offers and merchant services.
Our reading: its membership benefits, partner relationships, brand attributes of trust, security and service, and merchant-acceptance network support customer engagement, but competitors with larger network scale and alternative payment models constrain this advantage.
| Competitor | Where they compete | Threat (our reading) |
|---|---|---|
| Visa | Global card-payment networks | High |
| Mastercard | Global card-payment networks | High |
| Capital One | Premium credit cards | High |
| Citi | Premium credit cards | High |
| Chase | Premium credit cards | High |
| PayPal | Web- and mobile-based payments | Medium |
| Ramp | Middle-market expense management | Medium |
| Brex | Middle-market expense management | Medium |
Growth opportunities
American Express seeks growth by expanding premium consumer membership, commercial payments, merchant acceptance, international operations and technology-led customer experiences. It plans to grow through benefits across everyday spending, borrowing, travel and lifestyle needs; commercial cards and accounts-payable tools; payment, financing and banking solutions; and services for merchants and network partners.
The company is increasing merchant coverage and product breadth. Management said merchant coverage reached more than 190 million locations globally in Q3 2026, compared with 160 million a year earlier. Management also said it acquired 3,100,000 new cards in Q3 2026, with 76.0% of new accounts on fee-paying products. It launched a Business Savings account for small-business customers and is developing commercial products and expense-management capabilities for businesses.
Management said that American Express acquired Center to strengthen its middle-market commercial offering and to compete more effectively in expense management. It is also developing agentic-commerce capabilities, including its ACE developer kit, agent-payment controls and purchase protection for eligible transactions. Its work with OpenAI includes Resy restaurant discovery and reservations in ChatGPT and a planned Amex plugin for discovering and enrolling in Amex Offers.
Management reaffirmed 2026 revenue-growth guidance of 10% and raised reported EPS guidance to between $18.30 and $18.60.
- $43.7BFY2021
- $55.6BFY2022
- $67.4BFY2023
- $74.2BFY2024
- $80.5BFY2025
Structural risks
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Macroeconomic conditions affect spending, borrowing, repayment, deposits, demand for fee-based products and credit losses. Premium consumer spending is sensitive to discretionary spending, while business spending depends on business investment and formation.
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Competition is intense across card networks, issuers, merchant acquirers, digital wallets, alternative financing and payment systems. Visa and Mastercard are larger in most countries by purchase volume, and competitors can use scale, pricing, technology, partnerships or different regulatory models to compete.
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Cobrand and other partner relationships are a material part of the business. A loss, non-renewal or less favorable renegotiation of a partner agreement could reduce billed business, card accounts, loans, benefits or customer retention.
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Regulation and supervision are extensive and evolving across banking, consumer products, payments, pricing, data and network operations. Regulatory actions, fines, changes to pricing practices or additional compliance costs could affect operations and competitiveness.
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Merchant surcharging, steering, differential acceptance and limits on card acceptance can reduce Card Member willingness to use American Express cards and can pressure merchant discount rates.
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New technologies, open banking, AI agents, digital currencies and alternative payment systems may disintermediate American Express from customers, restrict access to transaction data or reshape payment choices.
Bottom line
Our reading
Our reading: American Express is an integrated payments business that combines card issuance, merchant acceptance, a global network, lending and membership fees around premium consumers and commercial customers. Its economics rely on Card Member spending, merchant discount revenue, card fees and customer engagement, while partner payments and rewards are material recurring costs. Its main exposures are payment-industry competition, partner dependence, economic sensitivity and extensive financial-services regulation.