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How AmEx's U.S. Consumer Services Unit Sustains its Growth Momentum
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Key Takeaways
AmEx USCS revenue rose 11% to $34.8B in 2025, with pretax income up 7% on higher spending.
AmEx saw 8% billed business growth, led by Gen-X, Millennials and fast-growing Gen-Z users.
AmEx credit quality improved, with net write-off rate at 1.1% despite a 2% drop in receivables.
American Express Company (AXP - Free Report) continues to see steady momentum in its U.S. Consumer Services (“USCS”) segment, driven by a strategy centered on premium customers, younger card members and fee-based products. In 2025, its revenues net of interest expense increased 11% year over year to $34.8 billion, contributing 48.2% of total revenues. Pretax income rose 7% to $6.8 billion, reflecting both higher spending and stable credit trends.
The segment’s billed business grew 8% during the year, supported mainly by Gen-X and Millennial customers, while Gen-Z and Millennials remained the fastest-growing cohorts. This reflects AmEx’s ability to attract younger users while maintaining strong engagement from its existing base.
USCS’ proprietary cards-in-force increased 4%, and total segment assets grew 8% to $123 billion. Even with a 2% decline in receivables, the net write-off rate improved to 1.1%, indicating disciplined underwriting and stable credit quality. The segment also continued to lead in new proprietary card acquisitions, reinforcing its competitive position.
Spending trends remained consistent, particularly among higher-income customers, with solid activity across travel, dining and retail categories. This supported overall volumes, with worldwide processed volume reaching $227.2 billion in 2025, while network volumes rose 7% year over year to $1.9 trillion. Full-year average fee per card increased 14%.
AmEx Peers Also Witness Growth
These trends are not unique to AmEx, as broader industry data points to steady payment activity. Companies like Visa Inc. (V - Free Report) and Mastercard Incorporated (MA - Free Report) are seeing higher transaction and processing volumes.
Visa's payments volume increased 8% year over year on a constant-dollar basis in the first quarter of fiscal 2026, driven by expanding operations across the United States, Europe, CEMEA and LAC regions. Processed transactions grew 9% year over year to 69.4 billion. Mastercard’s switched transactions improved 10% year over year to 46.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025 alone. Its GDV rose 7% on a local-currency basis to $2.82 trillion.
AmEx’s Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates
Shares of AXP have lost 18.4% in the year-to-date period compared with the industry’s decline of 15.4%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, AmEx trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 16.70, higher than the industry average of 9.24. AXP carries a Value Score of B.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AmEx’s 2026 revenues and earnings are pegged at $78.7 billion and $15.43 per share, implying 9% and 13.8% jump from the year-ago period, respectively.
View the Zacks #1 Rank List
Image: Bigstock
How AmEx's U.S. Consumer Services Unit Sustains its Growth Momentum
Key Takeaways
American Express Company (AXP - Free Report) continues to see steady momentum in its U.S. Consumer Services (“USCS”) segment, driven by a strategy centered on premium customers, younger card members and fee-based products. In 2025, its revenues net of interest expense increased 11% year over year to $34.8 billion, contributing 48.2% of total revenues. Pretax income rose 7% to $6.8 billion, reflecting both higher spending and stable credit trends.
The segment’s billed business grew 8% during the year, supported mainly by Gen-X and Millennial customers, while Gen-Z and Millennials remained the fastest-growing cohorts. This reflects AmEx’s ability to attract younger users while maintaining strong engagement from its existing base.
USCS’ proprietary cards-in-force increased 4%, and total segment assets grew 8% to $123 billion. Even with a 2% decline in receivables, the net write-off rate improved to 1.1%, indicating disciplined underwriting and stable credit quality. The segment also continued to lead in new proprietary card acquisitions, reinforcing its competitive position.
Spending trends remained consistent, particularly among higher-income customers, with solid activity across travel, dining and retail categories. This supported overall volumes, with worldwide processed volume reaching $227.2 billion in 2025, while network volumes rose 7% year over year to $1.9 trillion. Full-year average fee per card increased 14%.
AmEx Peers Also Witness Growth
These trends are not unique to AmEx, as broader industry data points to steady payment activity. Companies like Visa Inc. (V - Free Report) and Mastercard Incorporated (MA - Free Report) are seeing higher transaction and processing volumes.
Visa's payments volume increased 8% year over year on a constant-dollar basis in the first quarter of fiscal 2026, driven by expanding operations across the United States, Europe, CEMEA and LAC regions. Processed transactions grew 9% year over year to 69.4 billion. Mastercard’s switched transactions improved 10% year over year to 46.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025 alone. Its GDV rose 7% on a local-currency basis to $2.82 trillion.
AmEx’s Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates
Shares of AXP have lost 18.4% in the year-to-date period compared with the industry’s decline of 15.4%.
From a valuation standpoint, AmEx trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 16.70, higher than the industry average of 9.24. AXP carries a Value Score of B.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AmEx’s 2026 revenues and earnings are pegged at $78.7 billion and $15.43 per share, implying 9% and 13.8% jump from the year-ago period, respectively.
Overall, steady spending, disciplined credit and a premium customer base continue to support USCS as AmEx’s core growth engine. The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.