Spending by American Express U.S. commercial customers
increased 5 percent year over year in the second quarter as the company
reported overall spending on its network had its highest growth level in three
years, chairman and CEO Stephen Squeri said during a Friday earnings call.
Travel and entertainment spending by U.S. commercial
customers increased 8 percent year over year in the quarter, two percentage
points higher than the growth rate in the first quarter, as spending on goods
and services was up 4 percent year over year. Total spending, inclusive of
T&E and goods and services, was up 5 percent year over year for both large
and global corporations and small and midsized business clients, Amex reported.
For international customers, Amex reported spending by SME
and large customers, inclusive of T&E and goods and services, was up 12
percent year over year. T&E spending by international customers, inclusive
of consumer and business customers, was up 9 percent year over year.
That growth came amid an overall 9 percent increase year
over year in total billed business for Amex, which Squeri said was the highest
rate in three years. U.S. consumer T&E spending also had strong growth for
the quarter, up 13 percent year over year, and CFO Christophe Le Caillec said
the company is seeing little impact to travel from geopolitical events.
"Travel to the Middle East or through the Middle East
you see an impact, as you would expect, but travel globally is up 10 percent,
and this is the highest number we've seen in the last six quarters," he
said. "There are some impacts, but there's not evidence of a general
slowdown."
On a category basis, spending by Amex customers on
restaurants and airlines each increased 10 percent year over year in the second
quarter. Spending on lodging increased 5 percent year over year.
American Express reported a net income of $3.1 billion in
the second quarter, up 8 percent compared with the second quarter of 2025.
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