American Express (AXP) Financial History

Our U.S.

An inability to attract or maintain deposits could materially adversely affect our liquidity position and our ability to fund our business.

Ratings of our long-term and short-term debt and deposits are based on a number of factors, including our financial strength, as well as factors not within our control, including conditions affecting the financial ser…

Our ability to obtain financing in the capital markets, such as from unsecured term debt issuances and asset securitizations, is dependent on financial market conditions.

We rely on dividends from our subsidiaries for liquidity, and such dividends may be limited by law, regulation or supervisory policy.

Compliance with capital adequacy and liquidity rules requires a material investment of resources and may be affected by unforeseen events impacting our business or general economic conditions.

As a financial institution, we are subject to extensive and complex capital and liquidity requirements.

We are subject to capital adequacy and liquidity rules, and if we fail to meet our capital and liquidity requirements, our business would be materially adversely affected.

Rising indicators of credit losses, both with respect to our customers, such as delinquencies, and with respect to broader macroeconomic factors, such as current or future levels of unemployment, gross domestic produc…

We are exposed to both individual credit risk, principally from consumer and small business Card Member loans and receivables, and institutional credit risk, principally from corporate Card Member loans and receivable…

We may face physical risks related to climate, including rising average global temperatures, rising sea levels and an increase in the frequency and severity of extreme weather events and natural disasters.

We are being challenged in a number of countries regarding our application of value-added taxes (VAT) to certain transactions.

We rely on a variety of measures to protect our intellectual property rights and control access to, and distribution of, our trade secrets and other proprietary information.

For more information on regulatory and legislative activity in this area, see “Supervision and Regulation — Privacy, Data Protection, Data Management, AI, Resiliency, Information Security and Cybersecurity” under “Bus…

Compliance with current or future laws in the aforementioned areas could significantly impact our business operations, including our collection, use, sharing, retention and safeguarding of consumer, partner and/or col…

Legislators and regulators in the United States and other countries in which we operate are increasingly adopting or revising privacy, data protection, data management, resiliency, data transfer, third party oversight…

Regulation in the areas of privacy, data protection, data management, resiliency, data transfer, third party oversight, account access, AI & ML and information security and cybersecurity could increase our costs and a…

The market for qualified, highly motivated individuals with a range of perspectives is highly competitive and we may not be able to attract and retain such individuals.

We rely upon our colleagues not only for business success, but also to adhere to our Blue Box Values, which include acting with integrity, promoting a culture of respect and operating with a mindset of controls and ri…

Our success is dependent on maintaining a culture that adheres to our values and upon our executive officers and other key personnel, and misconduct by or loss of personnel could materially adversely affect our business.

We use models and automation throughout our business, including to inform and support decision making, manage risks, estimate financial values and forecast liquidity and funding needs.

Our use of models, including the data that underlie them, to manage risk and make business decisions may not be effective.

The management and oversight of an increasing number of third parties increases our operational complexity and governance challenges and decreases our control.

We have experienced in certain limited circumstances and may continue to experience disruptions, operational issues or other events with respect to our third parties or our third parties’ service providers, including…

We rely on third-party service providers, cobrand partners, merchants, dining partners, affiliate marketing firms, merchant acquirers, processors, payment facilitators, network partners and other third parties for ser…

We rely on third-party providers for acquiring and servicing customers, technology, platforms and other services integral to the operations of our businesses.

An adverse outcome in these proceedings could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations, require us to change our merchant agreements in a way that could expose our cards to increased me…

We are also involved at any given time with governmental and regulatory inquiries, investigations and proceedings.

At any given time, we are involved in a number of legal proceedings, including class action lawsuits, mass arbitrations and similar actions.

We are subject to significant supervision and regulation with respect to compliance with AML/CFT laws, sanctions regimes and anti-corruption laws in numerous jurisdictions.

Legislators and regulators also continue to focus on consumer protection, including product design and pricing constructs, account management and security, creditworthiness assessments, credit bureau reporting, disclo…

Legislators and regulators continue to focus on the operation of card networks, including interchange fees paid to card issuers in payment networks such as Visa and Mastercard, network routing practices and the fees m…

If we fail to satisfy regulatory requirements and expectations or maintain our financial holding company status or other applicable licenses and charters, our financial condition and results of operations could be adv…

We face heightened and evolving regulatory expectations and scrutiny in the U.S.

processing or other volumes, natural disasters and weather events, fires, accidents, technology change management issues, power outages, internet outages, telecommunications failures, fraud, denial-of-service, ransomw…

Our and our partners’ networks and systems are subject to constant attempts to disrupt business operations and capture, destroy, manipulate or expose various types of information relating to corporate trade secrets, c…

Global financial institutions like us, as well as our customers, colleagues, regulators, service providers and other third parties, have experienced a significant increase in information security and cybersecurity ris…

A major information or cybersecurity incident could lead to reputational damage to our brand and material legal, regulatory and financial exposure, and could reduce the use and acceptance of our products and services.

We consider operational risk as the risk to our current or projected financial condition and resilience arising from inadequate or failed processes, human error or adverse external events.

for those opportunities, or complete proposed acquisitions and investments.

The use of AI & ML technologies, including generative AI and agentic commerce, has increased rapidly and may be transformative to the payments industry, heightening the risks described herein and others in ways that m…

Our industry is subject to rapid and significant technological changes.

We face increased scrutiny from stakeholders who have diverging views related to business practices and company activities, which could result in reputational harm, litigation, enforcement actions and other adverse co…

Our brand and its attributes are key assets, and we believe our continued success depends on our ability to preserve, grow and realize the benefits of the value of our brand.

We may not be able to cost-effectively manage and expand Card Member benefits, including containing the growth of marketing, promotion, rewards and Card Member services expenses in the future, and our ability to do so…

Another way we invest in customer value is through a range of Card Member rewards and benefits, including our Membership Rewards program.

Revenue growth is dependent on increasing consumer and business spending on our cards, growing loan balances and increasing fee revenue.

American Express cards could become less desirable to consumers and businesses generally due to surcharging, steering or other forms of discrimination, which could result in a decrease in cards-in-force, coverage and…

In certain countries, such as Australia (where surcharging is currently under reconsideration), Canada (other than in the Province of Quebec) and certain Member States in the EU, and in certain states in the United St…

We face pressure from competitors that primarily rely on sources of revenue other than discount revenue or have lower costs that can make their pricing for card acceptance more attractive.

Similarly, we are exposed to risk from bankruptcies, liquidations, insolvencies, financial distress, restructurings, structural shifts in the economy, consolidations, operational outages, cybersecurity incidents and o…

Our success is, in many ways, dependent on the success of our partners.

Cobrand and other partner arrangements are generally entered into for a fixed period and will terminate in accordance with their terms, including at the end of the fixed period unless extended or renewed at the option…

In the ordinary course of our business we enter into different types of contractual arrangements with business partners in a variety of industries.

Many of our competitors are subject to different, and in some cases, less stringent, legislative and regulatory regimes, and some may have lower cost structures and more agile business models and systems.

The competitive value of our data and demand for our products and services may also be diminished as traditional and non-traditional competitors use other, new data sources and technologies, including generative AI, t…

The payments industry is complex and continues to undergo changes in response to evolving technologies and customer preferences.

Some of our competitors have substantially greater scale and resources than we have and may offer richer value propositions or a wider range of programs and services than we offer or may use more effective strategies…

Hurricanes, wildfires and other natural disasters have impacted, and may continue to impact, spending and credit performance in the areas affected.

Geopolitical conditions, terrorist attacks, military conflicts, supply chain issues, natural disasters, severe weather, widespread health emergencies or pandemics, information or cybersecurity incidents (including int…

Macroeconomic conditions are a major driver of our results of operations and changes in the business and economic environment may materially adversely affect our business.

This section highlights certain risks that could affect us and our businesses, broadly categorized in accordance with the risk types identified in our risk governance framework: “Strategic and Reputational Risks,” “Op…

which could materially adversely affect us and our ability to fund our business.

We had net interest income of approximately $15.5 billion for the year ended December 31, 2024.

Model, Credit, Market and Funding & Liquidity Risks

Legislative action or inaction in the countries in which we have operations could increase our effective tax rate.

misappropriation claim against us could cause us to lose significant revenues, incur significant defense, license, royalty or technology development expenses, and/or pay significant monetary damages.

targeted by bad actors as a result, which can result in greater disruptions and other risk events.

We face significantly heightened regulatory expectations and scrutiny in the U.S.

referring to the United States, a negative perception of the United States arising from its political or other positions could harm the perception of our company and our brand.

Our brand and reputation may also be harmed by actions taken by third parties that are outside our control.

Recently introduced products, such as debit cards on the American Express network, could fail to gain market acceptance and American Express cards could become less desirable to consumers and businesses generally due…

We also encounter merchants that accept our cards, but tell their customers that they prefer to accept another type of payment or otherwise seek to suppress use of our cards or certain of our cards, such as limiting t…

financial condition and results of operations.

instability, increased prevalence and sophistication of cyberattacks, potential retaliatory action against companies such as us, further sanctions activity and related regulatory scrutiny, increased inflation, further…

A number of actions are taking place across the globe that impact geopolitical stability.

Strategic & Business, Reputational and Country Risks

amortization of our existing securitization transactions.

We had net interest income of approximately $17.4 billion for the year ended December 31, 2025.

Legislative action or inaction in the jurisdictions in which we have operations could increase our effective tax rate.

authorities may determine that we owe additional taxes or apply existing laws and regulations more broadly, which could result in a significant increase in liabilities for taxes and interest in excess of accrued liabi…

there is uncertainty as to when or how interchange fee caps and other provisions of payments legislation might apply when we work with cobrand partners and agents in the EU.

Increased fraudulent activity associated with our products and services could materially adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations, including as a result of credit losses and other expenses.

We face risks from fraudulent activity associated with Card Members, merchants and others, including through bad actors obtaining access to our customer accounts and information and frauds committed by our customers a…

Fraudulent activity associated with our products and services could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

We rely extensively on our information technology systems and those of our third parties, including our transaction authorization, clearing and settlement systems, data centers and cloud data storage and processing se…

We have acquired a number of businesses and have made a number of strategic investments, and continue to evaluate potential transactions.

negatively impacted by perceptions about our Card Member base, ability or inability of certain individuals or companies to become customers and their usage of our cards and other products and services, and acceptance…

Our brand and reputation may also be harmed by actions taken by third parties that are outside our control.

Our Card Members value the ability to use their cards where and when they want to, and we, therefore, take steps to meet our Card Members’ expectations and to protect the American Express brand by prohibiting discrimi…

shortfall in certain performance and revenue levels.

supply chain and increased prevalence and sophistication of cyberattacks.

There are multiple ongoing military conflicts around the world and geopolitical tensions may result in additional conflicts or escalate existing conflicts.

We are a multinational company that derives a substantial portion of its revenues from activities outside of the United States and many of our U.S.