American Express is maintaining its capital position while investing in its technology framework, marketing efforts, and merger and acquisition opportunities. 

“We want to invest in the business,” Anna Marrs, group president of global commercial services and credit and fraud risk at the financial giant, said Sept. 4 during the Scotiabank Financials Summit 2024.  

In fact, within Amex Digital Labs, the company is targeting six focus areas of the digital experience: payments, e-commerce, future of membership, AI, web3 and emerging tech, Stephanie Schultz, vice president and head of partnerships at Amex Digital Labs, previously told Bank Automation News.

With the digital experience in mind, Amex has allocated capital to the following areas: 

Technology: “This business is a technology business at heart,” Marrs said. 

Tech investments enhance the company’s customer experience, ability to transact at scale and ultimately grow, she said.  

Technology investment was up $600 million during the past couple of years, about a 40% increase, Marrs said. 

Total expenses reached $11.2 billion during the second quarter, up 1% year over year, according to Amex’s Q2 earnings supplement. 

Chief Financial Officer Christophe Le Caillec said during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call on Jan. 26 that Amex has “plans to refresh around 40 products globally” and will invest in related technology to achieve the goal. 

M&A: “Amex is not a large acquirer,” Marrs said. “We’re very confident in the health and opportunity in our core business. So, we tend to look at opportunities that are just adjacent.” 

Amex fintech acquisitions include: 

• Reservation technology provider Tock; 

• Design-driven entrepreneurship platform Rooam; 

• Software-as-a-service automated payments solution Nipendo; 

• Automated financial planning tool Bodeswell; and 

• Online lending platform Kabbage. 

Marketing: This year, Amex is on track to spend about $6 billion on marketing to attract and retain customers, Marrs said. That is up $800 million over last year, she said. 

Chief Executive Officer Steve Squeri said during the Q4 earnings call that Amex plans on investing in marketing and technology capabilities to gain a younger generation of customers and meet their financial needs. 

Marrs said, “When you look at any marketing opportunity … we calculate the return on investment from that specific marketing investment and that lets us arbitrate across the company.” 

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