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AmEx Adds 20 Million Merchant Locations in 2026: What's the Upside?
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Key Takeaways
American Express topped 190 million merchant locations after adding about 20 million in 2026.
Acceptance doubled in Canada, Japan and Mexico, tripled in Europe and quadrupled in Singapore.
Broader acceptance can support card spending, billed business, discount revenue and customer retention.
American Express Company’s (AXP - Free Report) global merchant network has crossed 190 million locations, adding about 20 million locations in 2026 alone. Acceptance outside the United States has more than doubled over the past four years. The company credits partnerships with banks, fintechs, payment facilitators and local acquirers, alongside its own acquiring network.
Expansion has focused on cities and spending categories important to card members. Since 2021, acceptance has doubled in Canada, Japan and Mexico, tripled across Europe and quadrupled in Singapore. AmEx is also broadening digital wallet access through Alipay and expanding restaurant, hotel, airline and transit coverage.
U.S. acceptance has remained at 99% of places taking credit cards since 2019. For AmEx, broader acceptance strengthens the value of its closed-loop payments model. The more places cardholders can use AmEx, the less reason they have to carry or switch to another card, which can lift wallet share and customer engagement. It also makes the network more attractive to prospective cardholders, particularly frequent travelers who care about overseas usability.
Broader acceptance should support higher card spending, transaction volumes and merchant-related revenues. AmEx says average spending on its U.S. cards is three times that of cards on other networks, so adding more merchants gives its customer base more opportunities to transact.
This can strengthen billed business and generate discount revenue, while improving cardholder engagement and retention. The financial benefit will depend on how efficiently AXP translates new merchant locations into active spending, while keeping expansion costs disciplined.
How are Peers Placed?
Peers like Visa Inc. (V - Free Report) and Mastercard Incorporated (MA - Free Report) are already deeply entrenched in global merchant acceptance, with a footprint across more than 200 countries and territories, so AmEx’s expansion is expected to further close that gap. These networks benefit from larger issuer and acquirer ecosystems, giving them deep everyday acceptance across physical and online commerce. Visa’s total processed transactions were 71.7 billion for the June quarter, marking a 10% year-over-year increase. Meanwhile, Mastercard’s switched transactions improved 9% year over year to 47.4 billion in the last reported quarter.
AmEx’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates
Shares of AXP have declined 17.4% year to date, underperforming the broader industry’s 10.9% fall.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, AmEx trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 15.61X, a bit higher than the industry average of 15.02X. It carries a Value Score of C.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AmEx’s 2026 earnings implies a 15.2% rise year over year, followed by 14.5% growth next year.
View the Zacks #1 Rank List
Image: Bigstock
AmEx Adds 20 Million Merchant Locations in 2026: What's the Upside?
Key Takeaways
American Express Company’s (AXP - Free Report) global merchant network has crossed 190 million locations, adding about 20 million locations in 2026 alone. Acceptance outside the United States has more than doubled over the past four years. The company credits partnerships with banks, fintechs, payment facilitators and local acquirers, alongside its own acquiring network.
Expansion has focused on cities and spending categories important to card members. Since 2021, acceptance has doubled in Canada, Japan and Mexico, tripled across Europe and quadrupled in Singapore. AmEx is also broadening digital wallet access through Alipay and expanding restaurant, hotel, airline and transit coverage.
U.S. acceptance has remained at 99% of places taking credit cards since 2019. For AmEx, broader acceptance strengthens the value of its closed-loop payments model. The more places cardholders can use AmEx, the less reason they have to carry or switch to another card, which can lift wallet share and customer engagement. It also makes the network more attractive to prospective cardholders, particularly frequent travelers who care about overseas usability.
Broader acceptance should support higher card spending, transaction volumes and merchant-related revenues. AmEx says average spending on its U.S. cards is three times that of cards on other networks, so adding more merchants gives its customer base more opportunities to transact.
This can strengthen billed business and generate discount revenue, while improving cardholder engagement and retention. The financial benefit will depend on how efficiently AXP translates new merchant locations into active spending, while keeping expansion costs disciplined.
How are Peers Placed?
Peers like Visa Inc. (V - Free Report) and Mastercard Incorporated (MA - Free Report) are already deeply entrenched in global merchant acceptance, with a footprint across more than 200 countries and territories, so AmEx’s expansion is expected to further close that gap. These networks benefit from larger issuer and acquirer ecosystems, giving them deep everyday acceptance across physical and online commerce. Visa’s total processed transactions were 71.7 billion for the June quarter, marking a 10% year-over-year increase. Meanwhile, Mastercard’s switched transactions improved 9% year over year to 47.4 billion in the last reported quarter.
AmEx’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates
Shares of AXP have declined 17.4% year to date, underperforming the broader industry’s 10.9% fall.
From a valuation standpoint, AmEx trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 15.61X, a bit higher than the industry average of 15.02X. It carries a Value Score of C.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AmEx’s 2026 earnings implies a 15.2% rise year over year, followed by 14.5% growth next year.
The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.