American Express caters its business to wealthy cardholders

American Express runs on a 'spend-centric' model, using perks and merchant fees to drive profit

American Express cardholders tend to spend more money per transaction than other credit card users, which makes the interchange fees merchants have to pay to accept American Express cards worth it while incentivizing other companies to pay the interchange fee as well.

Why American Express charges merchants more than other card companies to accept AmEx

Each card network charges merchants a discount rate, which is a fee merchants pay to accept cards. American Express charges higher discount fees than competitors like Visa and Mastercard as the business is more reliant on fees for operation.

American Express is both a card issuer and a processing network

Unlike most credit card companies, American Express issues credit cards and processes payments—something called a closed-loop model. By offering both services, American Express profits from both interest and interchange fees, and also has access to more data on how customers spend their money so it can offer better perks.

The Platinum American Express card is among the most expensive mainstream travel credit cards

American Express charges a $895 annual fee on its Platinum Card in exchange for nearly $3.5K worth of credits and benefits. Some of the credits include a $600 for hotels, a $400 credit at restaurants with Resy, a $300 Lululemon credit, and even a $200 credit at Oura ring. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Learn more about American Express' membership rewards

American Express is well known for its membership program that allows cardholders to earn points. These points allow members to earn extra benefits and rack up savings at places like hotels, airlines, and restaurants.

American Express has acquired restaurant software companies to elevate its cardholder experience

One of the many perks of American Express cards is dining credits and special reservation access to fine dining restaurants. Since American Express cardholders are often more affluent than other credit card users, restaurants have benefited from increased partnerships with American Express to offer cardholders preferential reservations and premium experiences. In 2019, American Express acquired Resy, a reservation software, and went on to acquire Tock in 2024.

American Express uses co-branded cards to provide brand-specific perks

Co-branded credit cards are partnerships between a card issuer and another company. Unlike regular credit cards that offer many different kinds of benefits at different companies, co-branded cards tend to only offer perks with the partner company. For example, American Express has a co-branded card with Delta airlines that allows users to earn points specifically towards the Delta rewards program.

American Express is one of the top-ranked places to work in the US

In 2026, American Express came in eighth place in Forbes' annual ranking of the best large workplaces (meaning workplaces with more than 5,000 employees). It's the top-ranked finance company on the list. The rankings were determined by survey data that asked employees to anonymously rate the salary, opportunity for advancement, benefits, and workplace at their company.

American Express was the first company to offer 'gold' cards to borrowers

American Express began offering gold cards to affluent consumers in 1966. However, other credit card companies began offering similar, premium cards in the 1980s, which quickly became a status symbol for wealthy Americans.

In 2025, American Express paid $230M to settle fraud and deceptive marketing charges

American Express launched a wire payment service targeted at small businesses and falsely touted the service as a tax-deductible business expense in 2018. American Express was also accused of allowing small businesses to open corporate credit cards without the necessary employer identification number (EIN).

The 'Centurion' card is American Express' highest tier, invite-only credit card

The Centurion card or "black card" debuted in 1999 and created the trend of credit card companies' most exclusive cards being black. Centurion cards are technically invite-only, but you can fill out a form to request being considered for the card. It has a $5K initiation fee and a $5K annual fee.

See a timeline of American Express' history

Since its founding in 1850, American Express has evolved from a mail delivery service to a multinational financial services company. Small additions to the company over time, such as taking money orders and inventing traveler's cheques, were key drivers of the company's transformation.

American Express is targeting Gen Z, who are generally less risk-averse than older generations

Unlike Millennials, who grew up during the Great Recession in 2008, Gen Z has a higher risk appetite and has grown up with more gamified spending platforms, like online gambling and prediction markets. Analysts say Gen Z's risk appetite makes them prime targets for credit card companies like American Express that can sell younger customers on large benefits in exchange for annual fees.

In 2013, American Express became the first credit card company to open an airport lounge

American Express opened its first airport lounge, the Centurion, in Las Vegas more than a decade ago. Since then, not only has American Express increased the number of lounges it has in airports across the country, but other credit card companies have also opened lounges.

Who actually pays for your credit card rewards?

In 2018, 92% of all credit card spending was made on a rewards card, which seems like a good deal to many who apply for rewards cards offering discounted flights, points, and more. But in actuality, the customers are often the ones who end up paying for the rewards in the grand scheme of things.

Managing too many credit cards can be costly if they have annual fees

However, canceling cards must be strategic if it becomes necessary, as it can negatively impact your credit score. Before canceling, experts suggest asking if it's possible to downgrade to a no-annual-fee version in order to keep the account open, thus preventing potential hits to your credit score.

Even high earners are living paycheck to paycheck

While roughly 14% of American households make $200K or more per year, many of them still don't feel rich. For instance, more than 60% of people with salaries over $300K per year still struggle with credit card debt.

Wealthy Americans are keeping car dealerships afloat

In the past five years, the share of people buying cars above $50K has increased by several-fold. Car prices have significantly increased overall in recent years.

Why private credit is attractive to both businesses and investors

While investors are attracted to the high rates, private credit is particularly attractive to mid-sized businesses that are too small for bank syndication and want faster, more flexible financing options.

US consumers collectively owe more than $1T to credit card companies—almost as much as they owe in auto loans.

One of the most important pieces of Amazon’s corporate empire? Its Prime subscription business

Prime drives customer loyalty and boosts Amazon’s revenue through its monthly and yearly fees. The key components included with a Prime subscription include free two-day shipping on eligible items, as well as access to services like Amazon Music and Prime Video.

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The matchmakers serving the elite of Silicon Valley

If members of the wealthy elite want to find romance, they often choose expensive match-making services rather than dating apps. These services can cost $150,000 for each match, and providers are experts in dealing with the unique social dynamics caused by being wealthy and the unusual egos such wealth can bring. This article explores this hidden cultural phenomenon.

Reasons the wealthy like to give to universities

Every year, higher education receives the lion’s share of philanthropy for key reasons. Universities have huge budgets and can handle big sums. They also oversee a broad range of initiatives tailored to an individual’s goals, and are particularly credible institutions with long track records and strong brands.

HSAs are frequently criticized for exacerbating inequality in healthcare access

Health savings accounts offer large tax advantages, but require personal contributions. Some argue that the tax advantages benefit wealthy individuals more than anyone else and that HSAs don't do much to help people who can't afford to regularly contribute to one. As a result, HSAs only decrease costs for those who can comfortably invest in them, and health inequalities between high-income and low-income individuals are exacerbated.

One of LVMH's key business innovations was widening the luxury market's target audience

While certain items under the LVMH umbrella can cost thousands of dollars, like large Louis Vuitton bags, others, like coin purses or lipstick, cost significantly less. Some argue that these comparatively lower-priced items allows LVMH's target audience to be much larger in size than it would have been if it only targeted the world's wealthiest shoppers, whereas others argue that it makes the brand more vulnerable to economic downturns.

Primary care doctors are converting into membership-based concierge practices

Subscription-based practices sometimes don't accept insurance and they also require annual membership fees which can add up to thousands of dollars per year. In return, patients are promised more personalized care and round-the-clock access to medical providers. As doctors transition to concierge care, this retainer-based medicine model is forcing people to choose between searching for new primary care providers or paying hefty fees.

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