American Express

A decline in Middle East travel and higher fuel prices should not put a major dent in the company's performance, execs said Thursday.

The credit card lender, which is scheduled to report first-quarter earnings April 23, followed its release of an agentic commerce kit by agreeing to acquire Hypercard, a Sam Altman-backed company that uses AI to support expense management.

The credit card company has issued a developers' kit to perform AI agent verification and aid merchants and shoppers, and is working with agentic AI protocols from other technology companies.

The lender has added a new card and plans a suite of artificial intelligence-powered technology for corporates, which face mounting pressures over tariffs and political volatility.

Like other payment executives, Steve Squeri expressed concern about affordability, but is not in favor of heavy restrictions.

For banks, construction projects not only produce new branches and offices, but can build an image with the public — or tear it down.

SEO Steve Squeri told analysts its platinum card upgrade has gotten off to a strong start, and added he's not noticing signs of consumer weakness due to recent political battles.

Marrs runs Amex's second largest business by revenue and card member spending.

The card brand's Pismo platform will support banking services for the Auckland-based fintech Dosh; Tether collaborates with a blockchain firm to expand USDT. That and more in American Banker's global payments and fintech roundup.

Block, which maintains its original Square brand for its business-focused products, is offering easier access to cash advances for small businesses. Also, Amex and Mastercard expand their virtual card strategy; and more in the American Banker global payments and fintech roundup.

With the big banks honing in on Amex's high-end card turf, Steve Squeri said his company's past success will drive the future.

American Express teased updates coming later this year to its travel-focused Platinum credit cards.

CEO Stephen Squeri said current strategy will continue, adding it would look to adjust expenses in areas such as marketing if there's an economic downturn.

Investors will be looking for what bank leaders have to say about the potential impact of President Donald Trump's tariff policies.

Visa and American Express are both reportedly trying to lure Apple's lucrative credit businesses away from Mastercard. But the battle over processing rights is just as much about accessing the technology company's digital wallet as it is about boosting transactions.

Many businesses are slow to adopt payment automation. Amex shared new B2B research with American Banker, and execs R.J. Ancona and Widad Chaoui discussed the firm's strategy to lure corporates to digital payments in an interview at the recent Payments Forum conference and over email.

Steve Squeri told analysts his firm is prepared to compete with small-business technology providers like Ramp and Brex. He also weighed in on the potential payments behemoth that would result from Capital One's purchase of Discover.

The card lender took full control of Swisscard from UBS; the Financial Conduct Authority is bringing installment lending regulations in line with other consumer financial products; and more payments news from around the world.

The credit card lender's earnings beat analyst expectations, but it also reported weakness in spending and higher late payments. Amex boss Steve Squeri said consumers are "resilient" and credit remains strong.

The legendary investor has been reducing his 13-year-old stake in BofA. It's the most recent instance of Buffett profiting from a big bet on a troubled financial institution.