American Express

Commercial bank · New York, United States

American Express Company is a New York-based bank holding company, converted to that status in November 2008, built around charge and credit cards, a proprietary merchant network and travel services. Its US banking arm, American Express National Bank, is chartered by the OCC, holds no retail branches, and offers FDIC-insured savings and business checking accounts alongside its card business. The group also owns Amex Bank of Canada, a CDIC member bank operating since 1990, and licensed payment entities in the UK and Spain that issue cards and process payments in Europe. For fiscal year 2025 the group reported 72.23 billion dollars in revenue, 10.83 billion dollars in net income and 300.1 billion dollars in total assets.

Legal name: American Express Company
Regulated by: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (bank holding company), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (American Express National Bank, charter 25151), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Financial Conduct Authority (American Express Services Europe Limited, UK payment institution FRN 661836), Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (Amex Bank of Canada)
Licence confirmed: yes, on a regulator's own list
Established: 1850
Website: www.americanexpress.com

Scores, 0 to 10

8.5Financial strength & stability

American Express National Bank and group entities are rated A2/A/A by Moody's, S&P and Fitch with a stable outlook, and the group reported 300.1 billion dollars in total assets and 10.83 billion dollars net income for FY2025. · source

8.0Business cards (Visa, Mastercard)

Business Checking includes a Membership Rewards-earning American Express Business Debit Card, on top of the group's core Business Platinum and other business charge/credit card lineup. · source

7.5United States

American Express National Bank is OCC-chartered (charter 25151) with FDIC-insured business checking paying interest up to 500,000 dollars, though it has no branch network and business accounts require standard KYC documentation. · source

6.5Lowest fees

American Express Business Checking has no monthly maintenance fee and no minimum balance requirement, but merchant-side card acceptance fees for Amex are typically higher than Visa or Mastercard. · source

6.0Canada

Amex Bank of Canada has operated as a regulated Canadian bank and CDIC member since 1990, though its business is concentrated in card issuing rather than full-service commercial banking. · source

6.0Best interest on business balances

American Express Business Checking pays a published (though unspecified on the fetched page) APY on balances up to 500,000 dollars, better than many non-interest business checking accounts, though below dedicated treasury products. · source

6.0Fast digital onboarding

Business Checking is opened online with a Taxpayer ID, revenue and owner information, and no minimum deposit, though the page does not state a guaranteed approval timeframe. · source

5.0United Kingdom

American Express Services Europe Limited is FCA-authorised (FRN 661836) as a payment institution for UK card issuing and payment services, but Amex is not a UK-chartered bank and offers no UK business current account. · source

5.0Startups & VC-backed companies

American Express Business Blueprint (the former Kabbage platform) offers small businesses a cash-flow dashboard and a line of credit from 2,000 to 250,000 dollars, but there is no dedicated venture-debt or pre-revenue startup programme. · source

4.5Europe (EU, EEA, Switzerland)

American Express Payments Europe S.L. is a licensed payment institution based in Madrid handling EEA card issuing and payments, but the group has no branch banking network across the EU. · source

4.0Cross-border payments, FX and multi-currency accounts

American Express operates in US dollars domestically with separate national entities in Canada, the UK and Spain rather than a single multi-currency account product with published FX margins. American Express offers separate national entities in the US, Canada, UK and Spain rather than a single global cash-pooling or multi-currency treasury platform. · source

4.0Online businesses: e-commerce and SaaS

Amex operates its own closed-loop merchant network accepted at 160 million merchants worldwide, but does not offer a marketplace-payout or multi-currency collection account product like a dedicated e-commerce PSP. Business Blueprint gives cash-flow insight and a line of credit, but there is no API-first banking product, accounting integrations or revenue-based financing aimed specifically at software companies. · source

4.0Off-ramp: crypto to fiat in a business account

Evidence is thin: American Express National Bank publishes no source-of-funds process for crypto proceeds in its business checking, and with crypto merchants barred from card acceptance its stance toward crypto money is cautious. · source

3.5Foreign-owned & non-resident companies

Business Checking requires a taxpayer ID, business owner SSN, date of birth and current address, with no published path for non-resident-owned companies without a US SSN. · source

3.0Crypto-friendly bank

No stated policy allowing American Express to bank crypto exchanges or VASPs was found on Amex's public pages; its card network's position on crypto merchants was not published on a page opened today. · source

3.0Fintech companies that need a partner bank

No safeguarding-account or agency-banking programme for EMIs or payment institutions is advertised; American Express's banking products are aimed at its own cardholders and merchants. · source

3.0On-ramp: buy crypto with fiat

Amex cardmember agreements define buying digital currency as a cash advance, charged at USD 10 or 5 percent with interest from day one, which makes card-funded exchange purchases costly; no business crypto policy for Amex Business Checking was found. · source

2.5Trade, manufacturing & import-export

American Express is a card issuer and network, not a trade finance bank; no letters of credit, guarantees or documentary collections are offered. · source

2.0High-risk verticals (iGaming, cannabis, adult, forex)

American Express's merchant network prohibits cannabis transactions across all US states, following federal rather than state law, and forbids online gambling payments. · source

2.0Stablecoins (USDC, USDT and others)

On 30 June 2026 Amex said it supports the Open USD stablecoin from the Open Standard consortium and it is hiring a vice president for stablecoin partnerships, but no stablecoin account, payout or settlement is offered to business clients yet. · source

1.5Customer satisfaction

Trustpilot TrustScore for americanexpress.com is 1.3 out of 5 from 5,409 reviews, citing unhelpful customer service and unexpected account restrictions. · source

1.0Crypto wallet and custody for a business

American Express offers no crypto custody or wallet for business or personal accounts; its 2026 digital asset activity is a stablecoin strategy team and consortium membership, checked September 2026. · source

1.0Accept crypto payments

Amex offers merchants no crypto acceptance, and its April 2026 merchant regulations list cryptocurrency as an industry prohibited from card acceptance in all regions covered. · source

1.0Bitcoin

No bitcoin buying, holding or transfer at American Express for businesses, checked September 2026. · source

1.0Ethereum

No ether buying, holding or transfer at American Express for businesses, checked September 2026. · source

Sources

Built on public information and the BankStore team's own aggregated experience; no confidential client or partner data. Bank Index and BankStore are not banks. This is information, not financial advice.