# American Express > American Express is a New York-based global payments and premium lifestyle company that issues cards, operates its own payment network, acquires merchants, lends to consumers and businesses, and wraps the transaction in rewards, travel, dining and service benefits. Its unusual closed-loop model gives it a direct relationship with cardholders and merchants, supporting richer spending data, fraud controls and targeted offers than a network-only rival can typically assemble. In 2025, Amex reported $72.2 billion in revenue net of interest expense, $1.67 trillion in billed business and 152.8 million cards in force. - **Founded:** 1850 - **Headquarters:** New York, United States - **Founders:** Henry Wells (Co-founder and first president), William G. Fargo (Co-founder and first secretary), John Butterfield (Co-founder and vice president) - **Team size:** Approximately 77,000 employees - **Products:** Consumer credit and charge cards, Membership Rewards, Business and corporate cards, Merchant services and Amex Network, American Express Travel and Global Lounge Collection - **Notable:** Reached its 175th anniversary in 2025 after beginning as an express freight company in 1850., Reported $72.229 billion in 2025 revenue net of interest expense and $10.833 billion in net income., Handled $1.897 trillion in network volume and $1.670 trillion in billed business during 2025. ## Products & services - **Consumer credit and charge cards** — A portfolio ranging from no-annual-fee cash-back cards to premium Gold, Platinum and Centurion memberships, with rewards, purchase protections and servicing. - **Membership Rewards** — A flexible points program with redemption options across travel, statement credits, shopping and transfers to airline and hotel partners. - **Business and corporate cards** — Payment products for small businesses and large companies, including employee cards, virtual cards, spending controls and corporate travel benefits. - **Merchant services and Amex Network** — Merchant acquiring, transaction authorization, settlement, fraud tools and network services for Amex-issued and partner-issued cards. - **American Express Travel and Global Lounge Collection** — Travel search and booking, hotel programs, travel servicing and access to more than 1,550 lounges, including the proprietary Centurion Lounge network. - **Resy and Tock** — Consumer reservation discovery plus restaurant, winery and venue software for reservations, guest management, events and transactions. - **Business Blueprint and banking** — Business checking, lines of credit, cash-flow tools and digital account management, alongside consumer savings, checking and personal loans in the United States. - **Graphite Business Cash Unlimited Card** — A U.S. business card launched with unlimited cash-back rewards and flexible spending capacity as part of a larger commercial product expansion. - **Agentic Commerce Experiences Developer Kit** — A developer toolkit for intent-driven purchases by registered AI agents, paired with Amex Agent Purchase Protection. ## Achievements - Reached its 175th anniversary in 2025 after beginning as an express freight company in 1850. - Reported $72.229 billion in 2025 revenue net of interest expense and $10.833 billion in net income. - Handled $1.897 trillion in network volume and $1.670 trillion in billed business during 2025. - Ended 2025 with 152.8 million cards in force worldwide. - Generated $37.401 billion in discount revenue and $9.993 billion in net card fees in 2025. - Built a global acceptance footprint of more than 100 million merchant locations. - Expanded the proprietary Centurion Lounge network to 32 locations by March 2026, with more announced. - Created Small Business Saturday in 2010; estimated U.S. small-business spending on the day reached a cumulative $223 billion since tracking began. - American Express and its foundation have provided more than $1 billion to charitable causes since 1954. - Introduced a developer kit and purchase protection framework for registered AI-agent transactions in 2026. ## Latest updates - **2026-07** — American Express reported second-quarter 2026 financial results and raised its full-year revenue-growth outlook to 10%. - **2026-06** — American Express proposed acquiring TheFork from Tripadvisor for $700 million in cash; if completed, its dining platforms would span an estimated 75,000 bookable venues. - **2026-06** — Delta and American Express refreshed the Delta SkyMiles card portfolio with additional travel benefits and new designs without raising annual fees. - **2026-05** — Amex and Fanatics announced a broad sports partnership and a Fanatics American Express Card planned for later in 2026. - **2026-04** — The company introduced its Agentic Commerce Experiences Developer Kit and Amex Agent Purchase Protection for registered AI-agent purchases. - **2026-04** — American Express agreed to acquire agentic expense-management company Hyper to strengthen AI capabilities in commercial services. - **2026-04** — Amex announced new Centurion Lounge plans for Boston and Charlotte and an expansion in Dallas; the network then counted 32 locations. - **2026-03** — The Graphite Business Cash Unlimited Card launched as the first step in an eight-product commercial expansion planned for 2026. - **2026-02** — Resy said the Tock venue network would be integrated into Resy, creating a booking destination with more than 25,000 venues. ## Links - Website: https://www.americanexpress.com/ - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/american-express - Twitter/X: https://x.com/AmericanExpress - GitHub: https://github.com/americanexpress - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/AmericanExpress - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/americanexpress/ - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmericanExpressUS --- Profile page: https://yespress.io/american-express Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io Last updated: 2026-08-11