2.2.0.25falsefalse0401 - Disclosure - Summary of Significant Accounting (Policies)truefalsefalse1falsefalseUSDfalsefalse1/1/2010 - 12/31/2010
USD ($)
USD ($) / shares
$Jan-01-2010_Dec-31-2010http://www.sec.gov/CIK0000004962duration2010-01-01T00:00:002010-12-31T00:00:00PureStandardhttp://www.xbrl.org/2003/instancepurexbrli0SharesStandardhttp://www.xbrl.org/2003/instancesharesxbrli0USDStandardhttp://www.xbrl.org/2003/iso4217USDiso42170USDEPSDividehttp://www.xbrl.org/2003/iso4217USDiso4217http://www.xbrl.org/2003/instancesharesxbrli0USDUSD$3true0axp_DescriptionOfNewAccountingPronouncementsNotYetAdoptedAbstractaxpfalsenadurationDescription of New Accounting Pronouncements not yet Adopted.falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00falsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherxbrli:stringItemTypestringDescription of New Accounting Pronouncements not yet Adopted.falsefalse4false0axp_DescriptionOfNewAccountingPronouncementsAdoptedTextBlockaxpfalsenadurationFor a new accounting pronouncement that has been issued and adopted, an entity's disclosure should (1) describe the new...falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block Tagged Accounting Policy: axp-20101231_note1_accounting_policy_table8 - axp:DescriptionOfNewAccountingPronouncementsAdoptedTextBlock-->
<div align="left" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">RECENTLY
ISSUED ACCOUNTING STANDARDS
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) recently issued
Accounting Standards Update (ASU)
<font style="white-space: nowrap">No. 2010-20,</font>
Receivables (Topic 310): Disclosures about the Credit Quality of
Financing Receivables and the Allowance for Credit Losses. This
standard is intended to provide additional information to assist
financial statement users in assessing an entity’s credit
risk exposures and evaluating the adequacy of its allowance for
credit losses. As such, the standard amends existing guidance by
requiring an entity to provide a greater level of disaggregated
information about its financing receivables and its allowance
for credit losses and includes new disclosures such as credit
quality indicators, past due information and additional impaired
loan data. Effective December 31, 2010, the Company adopted
these amendments except for disclosures of activity within
periods, which become effective for periods beginning
January 1, 2011. Additionally, certain new disclosures for
Troubled Debt Restructurings were not implemented because such
disclosures have been deferred by ASU
<font style="white-space: nowrap">No. 2011-01,</font>
Receivables (Topic 310): Deferral of the Effective Date of
Disclosures about Troubled Debt Restructurings in Update
<font style="white-space: nowrap">No. 2010-20,</font>
and are expected to be effective for periods beginning
April 1, 2011.
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 6pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
In addition, the Company adopted the following standards:
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 6pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="text-align: left">
<tr>
<td width="1%"></td>
<td width="99%"></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<td> <font style="color: #009baa">•</font> 
</td>
<td align="left"> ASU
<font style="white-space: nowrap">No. 2009-16,</font>
Transfers and Servicing (Topic 860): Accounting for Transfers of
Financial Assets, and
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="line-height: 6pt; font-size: 1pt">
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<td> <font style="color: #009baa">•</font> 
</td>
<td align="left"> ASU
<font style="white-space: nowrap">No. 2009-17,</font>
Consolidations (Topic 810): Improvements to Financial Reporting
by Enterprises Involved with Variable Interest Entities.
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<div style="margin-top: 6pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
These standards (generally referred to herein as new GAAP
effective January 1, 2010) eliminated the concept of a
qualifying special purpose entity (QSPE), therefore requiring
these entities to be evaluated under the accounting guidance for
consolidation of VIEs. In addition, ASU
<font style="white-space: nowrap">2009-17</font>
required an entity to reconsider its previous consolidation
conclusions reached under the VIE consolidation model, including
(i) whether an entity is a VIE, (ii) whether the
enterprise is the VIE’s primary beneficiary, and
(iii) the required financial statement disclosures.
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Upon adoption of ASU
<font style="white-space: nowrap">2009-16</font> and
ASU <font style="white-space: nowrap">2009-17,</font>
the Company was required to change its accounting for the
American Express Credit Account Master Trust (the Lending
Trust), a previously unconsolidated VIE, which is now
consolidated. As a result, beginning January 1, 2010, the
securitized cardmember loans and related debt securities issued
to third parties by the Lending Trust are included on the
Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheet. The Company continues
to consolidate the American Express Issuance Trust (the Charge
Trust). Prior period results have not been revised for the
change in accounting for the Lending Trust. Refer to Note 7
for further discussion.
</div>
<!-- XBRL Pagebreak Begin -->
<font style="font-size: 8pt">
</font>
<!-- END PAGE WIDTH -->
<!-- PAGEBREAK -->
<div style="margin-left: 0%">
<!-- BEGIN PAGE WIDTH -->
<div align="center" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 7pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
</font>
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 0pt; font-size: 1pt">
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 0pt; font-size: 1pt">
</div>
<div align="center" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<b>
<font style="font-size: 11pt">
</font>
</b>
</div>
<!-- XBRL Pagebreak End -->
<div style="margin-top: 18pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
</div>
</div>
<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block TaggedfalsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherus-types:textBlockItemTypestringFor a new accounting pronouncement that has been issued and adopted, an entity's disclosure should (1) describe the new pronouncement, the date that adoption is required and the date that the entity plans to adopt, if earlier; (2) discuss the methods of adoption allowed by the pronouncement and the method utilized by the entity; (3) discuss the impact that adoption of the pronouncement had on the financial statements of the entity; (4) disclose the potential impact of other significant matters resulted from the adoption of the pronouncement (for example, technical violations of debt covenant agreements and planned or intended changes in business practices).No authoritative reference available.falsefalse5false0us-gaap_ConsolidationPolicyTextBlockus-gaaptruenadurationNo definition available.falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block Tagged Accounting Policy: axp-20101231_note1_accounting_policy_table1 - us-gaap:ConsolidationPolicyTextBlock-->
<div align="left" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">PRINCIPLES
OF CONSOLIDATION
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
The Consolidated Financial Statements of the Company are
prepared in conformity with U.S. generally accepted
accounting principles (GAAP). All significant intercompany
transactions are eliminated.
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
The Company consolidates all entities in which the Company holds
a “controlling financial interest.” For voting
interest entities, the Company is considered to hold a
controlling financial interest when the Company is able to
exercise control over the investees’ operating and
financial decisions. For variable interest entities (VIEs), the
Company is considered to hold a controlling financial interest
when it is determined to be the primary beneficiary. Prior to
the adoption of ASU
<font style="white-space: nowrap">No. 2009-17,</font>
Consolidation (Topic 810): Improvements to Financial Reporting
by Enterprises Involved with Variable Interest Entities
(effective January 1, 2010), a primary beneficiary was the
party that absorbs a majority of the VIE’s expected losses
or receive a majority of the VIE’s expected residual
returns. For VIEs, subsequent to the adoption of ASU
<font style="white-space: nowrap">No. 2009-17,</font>
a primary beneficiary is a party that has both: (1) the
power to direct the activities of a VIE that most significantly
impact that entity’s economic performance, and (2) the
obligation to absorb losses, or the right to receive benefits,
from the VIE that could potentially be significant to the VIE.
The determination of whether an entity is a VIE is based on the
amount and characteristics of the entity’s equity.
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Entities in which the Company’s voting interest in common
equity does not provide the Company with control, but allows the
Company to exert significant influence over their financial and
operating decisions are accounted for under the equity method.
All other investments in equity securities, to the extent that
they are not considered marketable securities, are accounted for
under the cost method.
</div>
</div>
<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block TaggedfalsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherus-types:textBlockItemTypestringDescribes an entity's accounting policy regarding (1) the principles it follows in consolidating or combining the separate financial statements, including the principles followed in determining the inclusion or exclusion of subsidiaries or other entities in the consolidated or combined financial statements and (2) its treatment of interests (for example common stock, a partnership interest or other means of exerting influence) in other entities, for example consolidation or use of the equity or cost methods of accounting. An entity also may describe its accounting treatment for intercompany accounts and transactions, noncontrolling interest, and the income statement treatment in consolidation for issuances of stock by a subsidiary.Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name FASB Interpretation (FIN)
-Number 46R
-Paragraph 4
-Subparagraph c
Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher SEC
-Name Regulation S-X (SX)
-Number 210
-Section 02
-Paragraph k
-Article 1
Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher AICPA
-Name Accounting Principles Board Opinion (APB)
-Number 18
-Paragraph 5, 6, 16-19
Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher SEC
-Name Regulation S-X (SX)
-Number 210
-Section 02, 03
-Article 3A
Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher AICPA
-Name Accounting Research Bulletin (ARB)
-Number 51
-Paragraph 2-6
Reference 6: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)
-Number 140
-Paragraph 46
Reference 7: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher AICPA
-Name Accounting Principles Board Opinion (APB)
-Number 18
-Paragraph 20
-Subparagraph a(2)
Reference 8: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name FASB Interpretation (FIN)
-Number 46R
-Paragraph 4
-Subparagraph d
Reference 9: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF)
-Number 97-2
Reference 10: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF)
-Number 96-16
Reference 11: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name FASB Interpretation (FIN)
-Number 46R
-Paragraph 14, 15
falsefalse6false0us-gaap_ForeignCurrencyTransactionsAndTranslationsPolicyTextBlockus-gaaptruenadurationNo definition available.falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block Tagged Accounting Policy: axp-20101231_note1_accounting_policy_table2 - us-gaap:ForeignCurrencyTransactionsAndTranslationsPolicyTextBlock-->
<div align="left" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">FOREIGN
CURRENCY
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are
translated into U.S. dollars based upon exchange rates
prevailing at the end of each year. The resulting translation
adjustments, along with any related qualifying hedge and tax
effects, are included in accumulated other comprehensive (loss)
income (AOCI), a component of shareholders’ equity.
Translation adjustments, including qualifying hedge and tax
effects, are reclassified to earnings upon the sale or
substantial liquidation of investments in foreign operations.
Revenues and expenses are translated at the average month-end
exchange rates during the year. Gains and losses related to
transactions in a currency other than the functional currency,
including operations outside the U.S. where the functional
currency is the U.S. dollar, are reported net in the
Company’s Consolidated Statements of Income, in other
non-interest revenue, interest income, interest expense, or
other, net expense, depending on the nature of the activity. Net
foreign currency transaction gains amounted to approximately
$138 million, $205 million and $15 million in
2010, 2009 and 2008, respectively.
</div>
</div>
<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block TaggedfalsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherus-types:textBlockItemTypestringDescribes a reporting enterprise's accounting policy for (1) transactions denominated in a currency other than the reporting enterprise's functional currency, (2) translating foreign currency financial statements that are incorporated into the financial statements of the reporting enterprise by consolidation, combination, or the equity method of accounting, and (3) remeasurement of the financial statements of a foreign reporting enterprise in a hyperinflationary economy.Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)
-Number 52
-Paragraph 5, 7-20, 80
falsefalse7false0axp_UseOfEstimatesTextBlockaxpfalsenadurationProvides an entity's explanation that the preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted...falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block Tagged Accounting Policy: axp-20101231_note1_accounting_policy_table3 - axp:UseOfEstimatesTextBlock-->
<div align="left" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">AMOUNTS
BASED ON ESTIMATES AND<br />
ASSUMPTIONS
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Accounting estimates are an integral part of the Consolidated
Financial Statements. These estimates are based, in part, on
management’s assumptions concerning future events. Among
the more significant assumptions are those that relate to
reserves for cardmember losses relating to loans and charge card
receivables, reserves for Membership Rewards costs, fair value
measurement, goodwill and income taxes. These accounting
estimates reflect the best judgment of management, but actual
results could differ.
</div>
</div>
<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block TaggedfalsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherus-types:textBlockItemTypestringProvides an entity's explanation that the preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles requires the use of management estimates. Estimates used in the determination of carrying amounts of assets or liabilities, or in disclosure of gain or loss contingencies should be disclosed if known information available prior to issuance of the financial statements indicates that both of these criteria are met: (1) It is at least reasonably possible that the estimate of the effect on the financial statements of a condition, situation, or set of circumstances that existed at the date of the financial statements will change in the near term (less than one year from the date of issuance) due to one or more future confirming events, and (2) The effect of the change would be material to the financial statements. The disclosure should indicate the nature of the uncertainty and include an indication that it is at least reasonably possible that a change in the estimate will occur in the near term. Disclosure of the factors that cause the estimate to be sensitive to change also is encouraged. Entities also may identify those areas that are subject to significant estimates.No authoritative reference available.falsefalse8false0us-gaap_RevenueRecognitionPolicyTextBlockus-gaaptruenadurationNo definition available.falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block Tagged Accounting Policy: axp-20101231_note1_accounting_policy_table4 - us-gaap:RevenueRecognitionPolicyTextBlock-->
<div align="left" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">TOTAL
REVENUES NET OF INTEREST EXPENSE
</font>
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 6pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">Discount
Revenue
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Discount revenue represents fees charged to merchants with which
the Company, or its GNS partners, has entered into card
acceptance agreements for facilitating transactions between the
merchants and the Company’s cardmembers. The discount
generally is deducted from the payment to the merchant and
recorded as discount revenue at the time the charge is captured.
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">Net
Card Fees
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Card fees are deferred and recognized on a straight-line basis
over the
<font style="white-space: nowrap">12-month</font>
card membership period, net of deferred direct card acquisition
costs and a reserve for projected membership cancellations.
Charge card fees are recognized in net card fees in the
Consolidated Statements of Income and the unamortized net card
fee balance is reported in other liabilities on the Consolidated
Balance Sheets (refer to Note 11). Loan product fees are
considered an enhancement to the yield on the product, and are
recognized in interest and fees on loans in the Consolidated
Statements of Income. The unamortized net card
fee balance for lending products is reported net in cardmember
loans on the Consolidated Balance Sheets (refer to Note 4).
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">Travel
Commissions and Fees
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
The Company earns travel commissions and fees by charging
clients transaction or management fees for selling and arranging
travel and for travel management services. Client transaction
fee revenue is recognized at the time the client books the
travel arrangements. Travel management services revenue is
recognized over the contractual term of the agreement. The
Company’s travel suppliers (for example, airlines, hotels
and car rental companies) pay commissions and fees on tickets
issued, sales and other services based on contractual
agreements. Commissions and fees from travel suppliers are
generally recognized at the time a ticket is purchased or over
the term of the contract. Commissions and fees that are based on
services rendered (for example, hotel stays and car rentals) are
recognized based on usage.
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">Other
Commissions and Fees
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Other commissions and fees include foreign currency conversion
fees, delinquency fees, service fees and other card related
assessments, which are recognized primarily in the period in
which they are charged to the cardmember. Also included are fees
related to the Company’s Membership Rewards program, which
are deferred and recognized over the period covered by the fee.
The unamortized Membership Rewards fee balance is included in
other liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheets (refer to
Note 11).
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">Contra-revenue
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
The Company regularly makes payments through contractual
arrangements with merchants, commercial card clients and certain
other customers (collectively the “customers”).
Payments to customers are generally classified as contra-revenue
unless a specifically identifiable benefit (e.g., goods or
services) is received by the Company in consideration for that
payment and the fair value of such benefit is determinable and
measurable. If no such benefit is identified, then the entire
payment is classified as contra-revenue and included within
total non-interest revenues in the Consolidated Statements of
Income in the line item where the related transaction revenues
are recorded (e.g., discount revenue, travel commissions and
fees and other commissions and fees). If such a benefit is
identified, then the payment is classified as expense up to the
estimated fair value of the benefit.
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">Interest
Income
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Interest on loans owned is assessed using the average daily
balance method. Interest is recognized based upon the loan
principal amount outstanding in accordance with the terms of the
applicable account agreement until the outstanding balance is
paid or written-off.
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Interest and dividends on investment securities primarily
relates to the Company’s performing fixed-income
securities. <br />
Interest income is accrued as earned using the effective
interest method, which adjusts the yield for security premiums
and discounts, fees and other payments, so that a constant rate
of return is recognized on the investment security’s
outstanding balance. Amounts are recognized until such time as a
security is in default or when it is likely that future interest
payments will not be received as scheduled.
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Interest on deposits with banks and other is recognized as
earned, and primarily relates to the placement of cash in
interest-bearing time deposits, overnight sweep accounts, and
other interest-bearing demand and call accounts.
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">Interest
Expense
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Interest expense includes interest incurred primarily to fund
cardmember loans, charge card product receivables, general
corporate purposes, and liquidity needs, and is recognized as
incurred. Interest expense is divided principally into three
categories: (i) deposits, which primarily relates to
interest expense on deposits taken from customers and
institutions, (ii) short-term borrowings, which primarily
relates to interest expense on commercial paper, federal funds
purchased, bank overdrafts and other short-term borrowings, and
(iii) long-term debt, which primarily relates to interest
expense on the Company’s long-term financing.
</div>
</div>
<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block TaggedfalsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherus-types:textBlockItemTypestringDescribes an entity's accounting policy for revenue recognition. If the entity has different policies for different types of revenue transactions, the policy for each material type of transaction should be disclosed. If a sales transaction has multiple element arrangements (for example, delivery of multiple products, services or the rights to use assets) the disclosure may indicate the accounting policy for each unit of accounting as well as how units of accounting are determined and valued. The disclosure may encompass important judgment as to appropriateness of principles related to recognition of revenue. The disclosure also may indicate the entity's treatment of any unearned or deferred revenue that arises from the transaction.Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher SEC
-Name Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB)
-Number Topic 13
-Section B
-Paragraph Question 1
Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher AICPA
-Name Accounting Principles Board Opinion (APB)
-Number 22
-Paragraph 8, 12, 13
falsefalse9false0us-gaap_CashAndCashEquivalentsPolicyTextBlockus-gaaptruenadurationNo definition available.falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block Tagged Accounting Policy: axp-20101231_note1_accounting_policy_table5 - us-gaap:CashAndCashEquivalentsPolicyTextBlock-->
<div align="left" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">BALANCE
SHEET
</font>
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 6pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">Cash
and Cash Equivalents
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Cash and cash equivalents include cash and amounts due from
banks, interest-bearing bank balances, including securities
purchased under resale agreements and other highly liquid
investments with original maturities of 90 days or less.
</div>
</div>
<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block TaggedfalsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherus-types:textBlockItemTypestringA description of a company's cash and cash equivalents accounting policy. An entity shall disclose its policy for determining which items are treated as cash equivalents. Other information that may be disclosed includes (1) the nature of any restrictions on the entity's use of its cash and cash equivalents, (2) whether the entity's cash and cash equivalents are insured or expose the entity to credit risk, (3) the classification of any negative balance accounts (overdrafts), and (4) the carrying basis of cash equivalents (for example, at cost) and whether the carrying amount of cash equivalents approximates fair value. Cash includes currency on hand as well as demand deposits with banks or financial institutions. It also includes other kinds of accounts that have the general characteristics of demand deposits in that the customer may deposit additional funds at any time and also effectively may withdraw funds at any time without prior notice or penalty. In addition, cash equivalents include short-term, highly liquid investments that are both readily convertible to known amounts of cash and so near their maturity that they present insignificant risk of changes in value because of changes in interest rates. Generally, only investments with original maturities of three months or less qualify under that definition. Original maturity means original maturity to the entity holding the investment. For example, both a three-month US Treasury bill and a three-year Treasury note purchased three months from maturity qualify as cash equivalents. However, a Treasury note purchased three-years ago does not become a cash equivalent when its remaining maturity is three months. For a bank, may include explanation and amount of requirement to maintain reserves against deposits.Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher SEC
-Name Financial Reporting Release (FRR)
-Number 203
-Paragraph 02-03
Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher SEC
-Name Regulation S-X (SX)
-Number 210
-Section 02
-Paragraph 1
-Article 5
Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)
-Number 95
-Paragraph 7, 8, 9, 10
Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher AICPA
-Name Technical Practice Aid (TPA)
-Number 2110
-Paragraph 6
falsefalse10false0us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentPolicyTextBlockus-gaaptruenadurationNo definition available.falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block Tagged Accounting Policy: axp-20101231_note1_accounting_policy_table6 - us-gaap:PropertyPlantAndEquipmentPolicyTextBlock-->
<div align="left" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">Premises
and Equipment
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Premises and equipment, including leasehold improvements, are
carried at cost less accumulated depreciation. Costs incurred
during construction are capitalized and are depreciated once an
asset is placed in service. Depreciation is generally computed
using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives
of assets, which range from 3 to 8 years for equipment.
Premises are depreciated based upon their estimated useful life
at the acquisition date, which generally ranges from 40 to
60 years.
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Leasehold improvements are depreciated using the straight-line
method over the lesser of the remaining term of the leased
facility or the economic life of the improvement, which ranges
from 5 to 10 years. The Company maintains operating leases
worldwide for facilities and equipment. Rent expense for
facility leases is recognized ratably over the lease term, and
is calculated to include adjustments for rent concessions, rent
escalations and leasehold improvement allowances. The Company
accounts for lease restoration obligations in accordance with
applicable GAAP, which requires recognition of the fair value of
restoration liabilities when incurred, and amortization of
capitalized restoration costs over the lease term.
</div>
</div>
<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block TaggedfalsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherus-types:textBlockItemTypestringDescribes an entity's accounting policy for property, plant and equipment which may include the basis of such assets, depreciation methods used and estimated useful lives, the entity's capitalization policy, including its accounting treatment for costs incurred for repairs and maintenance activities, whether such asset balances include capitalized interest and the method by which such is calculated, how disposals of such assets are accounted for and how impairment of such assets is assessed and recognized.Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher AICPA
-Name Accounting Research Bulletin (ARB)
-Number 43
-Chapter 9
-Section C
-Paragraph 5
Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)
-Number 144
-Paragraph 7
Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher AICPA
-Name Accounting Principles Board Opinion (APB)
-Number 22
-Paragraph 12, 13
Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)
-Number 34
-Paragraph 8, 9
Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher SEC
-Name Regulation S-X (SX)
-Number 210
-Section 02
-Paragraph 13
-Subparagraph a
-Article 5
Reference 6: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher AICPA
-Name Accounting Principles Board Opinion (APB)
-Number 12
-Paragraph 5
-Subparagraph d
falsefalse11false0axp_InternalUseSoftwarePolicyTextBlockaxpfalsenadurationDescribes an entity's accounting policy for costs incurred when both (1) the software is acquired, internally developed, or...falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block Tagged Accounting Policy: axp-20101231_note1_accounting_policy_table7 - axp:InternalUseSoftwarePolicyTextBlock-->
<div align="center" style="font-size: 1pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<i><font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">Software
development costs</font></i>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
The Company capitalizes certain costs associated with the
acquisition or development of internal-use software. Once the
software is ready for its intended use, these costs are
amortized on a straight-line basis over the software’s
estimated useful life, generally 5 years.
</div>
</div>
<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block TaggedfalsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherus-types:textBlockItemTypestringDescribes an entity's accounting policy for costs incurred when both (1) the software is acquired, internally developed, or modified solely to meet the entity's internal needs, and (2) during the software's development or modification, no substantive plan exists or is being developed to market the software externally.No authoritative reference available.falsefalse12true0axp_FairValuePolicyAbstractaxpfalsenadurationFair Value Policy [Abstract]falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00falsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherxbrli:stringItemTypestringFair Value Policy [Abstract]falsefalse13false0axp_FairValueOfFinancialInstrumentsPolicyTextBlockaxpfalsenadurationDescribes an entity's accounting policy for determining the fair value of its financial instruments.falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block Tagged Accounting Policy: axp-20101231_note3_accounting_policy_table1 - axp:FairValueOfFinancialInstrumentsPolicyTextBlock-->
<div align="left" style="font-size: 13pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to
sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in
an orderly transaction between market participants at the
measurement date, and is based on the Company’s principal
or most advantageous market for the specific asset or liability.
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
GAAP provides for a three-level hierarchy of inputs to valuation
techniques used to measure fair value, defined as follows:
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 6pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="text-align: left">
<tr>
<td width="1%"></td>
<td width="99%"></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<td> <font style="color: #009baa">•</font> 
</td>
<td align="left"> Level 1 — Inputs that are quoted prices
(unadjusted) for identical assets or liabilities in active
markets.
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="line-height: 6pt; font-size: 1pt">
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<td> <font style="color: #009baa">•</font> 
</td>
<td align="left"> Level 2 — Inputs other than quoted prices
included within Level 1 that are observable for the asset
or liability, either directly or indirectly, for substantially
the full term of the asset or liability, including:
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<div style="margin-top: 6pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="text-align: left">
<tr>
<td width="1%"></td>
<td width="2%"></td>
<td width="97%"></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<td> </td>
<td> – 
</td>
<td align="left">
Quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="line-height: 6pt; font-size: 1pt">
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<td> </td>
<td> – 
</td>
<td align="left">
Quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in
markets that are not active
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="line-height: 6pt; font-size: 1pt">
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<td> </td>
<td> – 
</td>
<td align="left">
Inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the
asset or liability
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="line-height: 6pt; font-size: 1pt">
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<td> </td>
<td> – 
</td>
<td align="left">
Inputs that are derived principally from or corroborated by
observable market data by correlation or other means
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<div style="margin-top: 6pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="text-align: left">
<tr>
<td width="1%"></td>
<td width="99%"></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<td> <font style="color: #009baa">•</font> </td>
<td align="left">
Level 3 — Inputs that are unobservable and
reflect the Company’s own assumptions about the assumptions
market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability
based on the best information available in the circumstances
(e.g., internally derived assumptions surrounding the timing and
amount of expected cash flows).
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>
<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block Tagged Accounting Policy: axp-20101231_note3_accounting_policy_table2 - axp:FairValueOfFinancialInstrumentsPolicyTextBlock-->
<div align="center" style="font-size: 1pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
GAAP requires disclosure of the estimated fair value of all
financial instruments. A financial instrument is defined as
cash, evidence of an ownership in an entity, or a contract
between two entities to deliver cash or another financial
instrument or to exchange other financial instruments. The
disclosure requirements for the fair value of financial
instruments exclude leases, equity method investments, affiliate
investments, pension and benefit obligations, insurance
contracts and all non-financial instruments.
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">VALUATION
TECHNIQUES USED IN MEASURING FAIR VALUE
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
For the financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value
on a recurring basis (categorized in the valuation hierarchy
table on the previous page) the Company applies the following
valuation techniques to measure fair value:
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">Investment
Securities (Excluding Retained Subordinated<br />
Securities and the Interest-Only Strip)
</font>
</div>
<table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="text-align: left">
<tr>
<td width="1%"></td>
<td width="99%"></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<td> <font style="color: #009baa">•</font> 
</td>
<td align="left"> When available, quoted market prices in active markets are used
to determine fair value. Such investment securities are
classified within Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy.
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="line-height: 6pt; font-size: 1pt">
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<td> <font style="color: #009baa">•</font> 
</td>
<td align="left"> When quoted prices in an active market are not available, the
fair values for the Company’s investment securities are
obtained primarily from pricing services engaged by the Company,
and the Company receives one price for each security. The fair
values provided by the pricing services are estimated using
pricing models, where the inputs to those models are based on
observable market inputs. The inputs to the valuation techniques
applied by the pricing services vary depending on the type of
security being priced but are typically benchmark yields,
benchmark security prices, credit spreads, prepayment speeds,
reported trades and broker-dealer quotes, all with reasonable
levels of transparency. The pricing services did not apply any
adjustments to the pricing models used. In addition, the Company
did not apply any adjustments to prices received from the
pricing services. The Company classifies the prices obtained
from the pricing services within Level 2 of the fair value
hierarchy because the underlying inputs are directly observable
from active markets or recent trades of similar securities in
inactive markets. However, the pricing models used do entail a
certain amount of subjectivity and therefore differing judgments
in how the underlying inputs are modeled could result in
different estimates of fair value.
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<div style="margin-top: 6pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
The Company reaffirms its understanding of the valuation
techniques used by its pricing services at least annually. In
addition, the Company corroborates the prices provided by its
pricing services to test their reasonableness by comparing their
prices to valuations from different pricing sources as well as
comparing prices to the sale prices received from sold
securities. Refer to Note 6 for additional fair value
information.
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">Retained
Subordinated Securities
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
As of January 1, 2010, pursuant to changes in GAAP
governing accounting for transfers of financial assets, the
Company no longer has retained subordinated securities. The fair
value of the Company’s retained subordinated securities was
determined using discounted cash flow models. The discount rate
was based on an interest rate curve observable in the
marketplace plus an unobservable credit spread for risks
associated with these securities and other similar financial
instruments. The Company classified such securities as
Level 3 in the fair value hierarchy because the credit
spreads were not observable due to market illiquidity for these
securities and similar financial instruments.
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">Interest-Only
Strip
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
As of January 1, 2010, pursuant to changes in GAAP
governing accounting for transfers of financial assets, the
Company no longer has interest-only strips. The fair value of
the interest-only strip was the present value of estimated
future positive excess spread expected to be generated by the
securitized loans over the estimated remaining life of those
loans. Management utilized certain estimates and assumptions to
determine the fair value of the interest-only strip asset,
including estimates for finance charge yield, credit losses,
London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) (which determined future
certificate interest costs), monthly payment rate and discount
rate. On a quarterly basis, the Company compared the assumptions
it used in calculating the fair value of its interest-only strip
to observable market data when available, and to historical
trends. The interest-only strip was classified within
Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy due to the significance
of the unobservable inputs used in valuing this asset.
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">Derivative
Financial Instruments
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
The fair value of the Company’s derivative financial
instruments, which could be assets or liabilities on the
Consolidated Balance Sheets, is estimated by a third-party
valuation service that uses proprietary pricing models, or by
internal pricing models. The pricing models do not contain a
high level of subjectivity as the valuation techniques used do
not require significant judgment, and inputs to those models are
readily observable from actively quoted markets. The pricing
models used are consistently applied and reflect the contractual
terms of the derivatives, including the period of maturity, and
market-based parameters such as interest rates, foreign exchange
rates, equity indices or prices, and volatility.
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Credit valuation adjustments are necessary when the market
parameters, such as a benchmark curve, used to value derivatives
are not indicative of the credit quality of the Company or its
counterparties. The Company considers the counterparty credit
risk by applying an observable forecasted default rate to the
current exposure. Refer to Note 12 for additional fair
value information.
</div>
<!-- XBRL Pagebreak Begin -->
<font style="font-size: 8pt">
</font>
<!-- END PAGE WIDTH -->
<!-- PAGEBREAK -->
<div style="margin-left: 0%">
<!-- BEGIN PAGE WIDTH -->
<div align="center" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 7pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
</font>
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 0pt; font-size: 1pt">
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 0pt; font-size: 1pt">
</div>
<div align="center" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<b>
<font style="font-size: 11pt">
</font>
</b>
</div>
<!-- XBRL Pagebreak End -->
<div style="margin-top: 18pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
</div>
</div>
<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block TaggedfalsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherus-types:textBlockItemTypestringDescribes an entity's accounting policy for determining the fair value of its financial instruments.No authoritative reference available.falsefalse14true0axp_AccountsReceivableAndLoansPolicyAbstractaxpfalsenadurationAccounts Receivable And Loans Policy [Abstract]falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00falsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherxbrli:stringItemTypestringAccounts Receivable And Loans Policy [Abstract]falsefalse15false0axp_FinanceLoansAndLeasesReceivablePolicyTextBlockaxpfalsenadurationDescribes an entity's accounting policy for finance, loan and lease receivables, including those held for investment and...falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block Tagged Accounting Policy: axp-20101231_note4_accounting_policy_table1 - axp:FinanceLoansAndLeasesReceivablePolicyTextBlock-->
<div align="left" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">CARDMEMBER
AND OTHER RECEIVABLES
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Cardmember receivables, representing amounts due from charge
payment product customers, are recorded at the time a cardmember
enters into a
<font style="white-space: nowrap">point-of-sale</font>
transaction with a merchant. Charge card customers generally
must pay the full amount billed each month. Each charge card
transaction is authorized based on its likely economics
reflecting cardmember’s most recent credit information and
spend patterns. Global limits are established to limit maximum
exposure for high risk and some high spend charge cardmembers.
Accounts of high risk,
<font style="white-space: nowrap">out-of-pattern</font>
charge cardmembers can be monitored even if they are current.
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Cardmember receivable balances are presented on the Consolidated
Balance Sheets net of reserves for losses (refer to
Note 5), and include principal and any related accrued fees.
</div>
<!-- XBRL Pagebreak Begin -->
<font style="font-size: 8pt">
</font>
<!-- END PAGE WIDTH -->
<!-- PAGEBREAK -->
<div style="margin-left: 0%">
<!-- BEGIN PAGE WIDTH -->
<div align="center" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 7pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
</font>
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 0pt; font-size: 1pt">
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 0pt; font-size: 1pt">
</div>
<div align="center" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<b>
<font style="font-size: 11pt">
</font>
</b>
</div>
<!-- XBRL Pagebreak End -->
<div style="margin-top: 18pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
</div>
</div>
<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block Tagged Accounting Policy: axp-20101231_note4_accounting_policy_table2 - axp:FinanceLoansAndLeasesReceivablePolicyTextBlock-->
<div align="left" style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">CARDMEMBER
AND OTHER LOANS
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Cardmember loans, representing amounts due from lending payment
product customers, are recorded at the time a cardmember enters
into a
<font style="white-space: nowrap">point-of-sale</font>
transaction with a merchant or when a charge card customer
enters into an extended payment arrangement. The Company’s
lending portfolios primarily include revolving loans to
cardmembers obtained through either their credit card accounts
or the lending on charge feature of their charge card accounts.
These loans have a range of terms such as credit limits,
interest rates, fees and payment structures, which can be
adjusted over time based on new information about cardmembers
and in accordance with applicable regulations and the respective
product’s terms and conditions. Cardmembers holding
revolving loans are typically required to make monthly payments
greater than or equal to certain pre-established amounts. The
amounts that cardmembers choose to revolve are subject to
finance charges. When cardmembers fall behind their required
payments, their accounts will be monitored.
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Cardmember loans are presented on the Consolidated Balance
Sheets net of reserves for losses and unamortized net card fees
and include accrued interest receivable and fees. The
Company’s policy generally is to cease accruing for
interest receivable on a cardmember loan at the time the account
is written off. The Company establishes reserves for interest
that the Company believes will not be collected.
</div>
</div>
<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block TaggedfalsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherus-types:textBlockItemTypestringDescribes an entity's accounting policy for finance, loan and lease receivables, including those held for investment and those held for sale. This disclosure may include (1) the basis at which such receivables are carried in the entity's statements of financial position (2) how the level of the allowance for loan and lease losses is determined (3) when impairments, charge-offs or recoveries are recognized for such receivables (4) the treatment of origination fees and costs, including the amortization method for net deferred fees or costs (5) the treatment of any premiums or discounts or unearned income (6) the entity's income recognition (revenues, expenses and gains and losses arising from committing to issue, issuing, granting, collecting, terminating, modifying and holding loans) policies for such receivables, including those that are impaired, past due or placed on nonaccrual status and (7) the treatment of foreclosures or repossessions.No authoritative reference available.falsefalse16false0axp_LoansAndLeasesReceivableNonperformingLoanAndLeasePolicyTextBlockaxpfalsenadurationDescribes the criteria for deeming amounts due from a borrower as not being in compliance with principal and interest payment...falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block Tagged Accounting Policy: axp-20101231_note4_accounting_policy_table3 - axp:LoansAndLeasesReceivableNonperformingLoanAndLeasePolicyTextBlock-->
<div align="left" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">IMPAIRED
LOANS AND RECEIVABLES
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Impaired loans and receivables are defined by GAAP as individual
larger balance or homogeneous pools of smaller balance
restructured loans and receivables for which it is probable that
the lender will be unable to collect all amounts due according
to the original contractual terms of the loan and receivable
agreement. The Company considers impaired loans and receivables
to include: (i) loans over 90 days past due still
accruing interest, (ii) non-accrual loans, and
(iii) loans and receivables modified in a troubled debt
restructuring (TDR).
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
The Company may modify cardmember loans and receivables to
minimize losses to the Company while providing cardmembers with
temporary or permanent financial relief. Such modifications may
include reducing the interest rate or delinquency fees on the
loans and receivables
<font style="white-space: nowrap">and/or</font>
placing the cardmember on a fixed payment plan not exceeding
60 months. If the cardmember does not comply with the
modified terms, then the loan or receivable agreement generally
reverts back to its original terms. Modification programs can be
long-term (more than 12 months) or short term
(12 months or less). The Company has classified such
cardmember loans and receivables in these modification programs
as TDRs.
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
The performance of a TDR is closely monitored to understand its
impact on the Company’s reserve for losses. Though the
ultimate success of these modification programs remains
uncertain, the Company believes they improve the cumulative loss
performance of such loans and receivables.
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Reserves for a TDR are determined by the difference between cash
flows expected to be received from the cardmember discounted at
the original effective interest rates and the carrying value of
the cardmember loan or receivable balance.
</div>
<!-- XBRL Pagebreak Begin -->
<font style="font-size: 8pt">
</font>
<!-- END PAGE WIDTH -->
<!-- PAGEBREAK -->
<div style="margin-left: 0%">
<!-- BEGIN PAGE WIDTH -->
<div align="center" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 7pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
</font>
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 0pt; font-size: 1pt">
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 0pt; font-size: 1pt">
</div>
<div align="center" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<b>
<font style="font-size: 11pt">
</font>
</b>
</div>
<!-- XBRL Pagebreak End -->
<div style="margin-top: 18pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
</div>
</div>
<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block TaggedfalsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherus-types:textBlockItemTypestringDescribes the criteria for deeming amounts due from a borrower as not being in compliance with principal and interest payment terms, describes the method for valuing a loan in such status, and indicates whether interest contractually accruing thereon is being recognized as income.No authoritative reference available.falsefalse17true0axp_ReservesForLossesPolicyAbstractaxpfalsenadurationReserves For Losses Policy [Abstract]falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00falsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherxbrli:stringItemTypestringReserves For Losses Policy [Abstract]falsefalse18false0axp_ReservesForLossesPolicyTextBlockaxpfalsenadurationDescribes how an entity determines the level of its allowance for doubtful accounts for its trade and other accounts...falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block Tagged Accounting Policy: axp-20101231_note5_accounting_policy_table1 - axp:ReservesForLossesPolicyTextBlock-->
<div align="left" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Reserves for losses relating to cardmember loans and receivables
represent management’s best estimate of the losses inherent
in the Company’s outstanding portfolio of loans and
receivables. Management’s evaluation process requires
certain estimates and judgments.
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Reserves for these losses are primarily based upon models that
analyze portfolio performance and reflect management’s
judgment regarding overall reserve adequacy. The analytic models
take into account several factors, including average losses and
recoveries over an appropriate historical period. Management
considers whether to adjust the analytic models for specific
factors such as increased risk in certain portfolios, impact of
risk management initiatives on portfolio performance and
concentration of credit risk based on factors such as tenure,
industry or geographic regions. In addition, management adjusts
the reserves for losses on cardmember loans for other external
environmental factors including leading economic and market
indicators such as the unemployment rate, Gross Domestic Product
(GDP), home price indices, non-farm payrolls, personal
consumption expenditures index, consumer confidence index,
purchasing managers index, bankruptcy filings and the legal and
regulatory environment. Generally, due to the short-term nature
of cardmember receivables, the impact of additional external
factors on the inherent losses within the cardmember receivable
portfolio is not significant. As part of this evaluation
process, management also considers various reserve coverage
metrics, such as reserves as a percentage of past due amounts,
reserves as a percentage of cardmember receivables or loans and
net write-off coverage.
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Cardmember receivables balances are written off when management
deems amounts to be uncollectible and is generally determined by
the number of days past due, which is generally no later than
180 days past due. Receivables in bankruptcy or owed by
deceased individuals are written off upon notification.
Recoveries are recognized on a cash basis.
</div>
</div>
<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block TaggedfalsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherus-types:textBlockItemTypestringDescribes how an entity determines the level of its allowance for doubtful accounts for its trade and other accounts receivable balances, and when impairments, charge-offs or recoveries are recognized. The description should identify the factors that influenced management of the entity in establishing the level of the allowance (for example, historical losses and existing economic conditions) and may also include discussion of the risk elements relevant to particular categories of receivables.No authoritative reference available.falsefalse19true0axp_InvestmentsPolicyAbstractaxpfalsenadurationInvestments Policy [Abstract]falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00falsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherxbrli:stringItemTypestringInvestments Policy [Abstract]falsefalse20false0us-gaap_InvestmentPolicyTextBlockus-gaaptruenadurationNo definition available.falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block Tagged Accounting Policy: axp-20101231_note6_accounting_policy_table1 - us-gaap:InvestmentPolicyTextBlock-->
<div align="left" style="font-size: 13pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Investment securities include debt and equity securities and are
classified as available for sale. The Company’s investment
securities, principally debt securities, are carried at fair
value on the Consolidated Balance Sheets with unrealized gains
(losses) recorded in AOCI, net of income tax provisions
(benefits). Realized gains and losses are recognized in results
of operations upon disposition of the securities using the
specific identification method on a trade date basis. Refer to
Note 3 for a description of the Company’s methodology
for determining the fair value of its investment securities.
</div>
</div>
<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block Tagged Accounting Policy: axp-20101231_note6_accounting_policy_table2 - axp:InvestmentPolicyTextBlock-->
<div align="left" style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa"><font style="white-space: nowrap">OTHER-THAN-TEMPORARY</font>
IMPAIRMENT
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Realized losses are recognized upon management’s
determination that a decline in fair value is other than
temporary. The determination of
<font style="white-space: nowrap">other-than-temporary</font>
impairment is a subjective process, requiring the use of
judgments and assumptions regarding the amount and timing of
recovery. The Company reviews and evaluates its investments at
least quarterly and more often, as market conditions may
require, to identify investments that have indications of
<font style="white-space: nowrap">other-than-temporary</font>
impairments. It is reasonably possible that a change in estimate
could occur in the near term relating to
<font style="white-space: nowrap">other-than-temporary</font>
impairment. Accordingly, the Company considers several factors
when evaluating debt securities for
<font style="white-space: nowrap">other-than-temporary</font>
impairment including the determination of the extent to which
the decline in fair value of the security is due to increased
default risk for the specific issuer or market interest rate
risk. With respect to increased default risk, the Company
assesses the collectibility of principal and interest payments
by monitoring issuers’ credit ratings, related changes to
those ratings, specific credit events associated with the
individual issuers as well as the credit ratings of a financial
guarantor, where applicable, and the extent to which amortized
cost exceeds fair value and the duration and size of that
difference. With respect to market interest rate risk, including
benchmark interest rates and credit spreads, the Company
assesses whether it has the intent to sell the securities and
whether it is more likely than not that the Company will not be
required to sell the securities before recovery of any
unrealized losses.
</div>
</div>
<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block Tagged Accounting Policy: axp-20101231_note6_accounting_policy_table3 - axp:InvestmentPolicyTextBlock-->
<div align="left" style="font-size: 1pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
The gross unrealized losses on state and municipal securities
and all other debt securities can be attributed to higher credit
spreads generally for state and municipal securities, higher
credit spreads for specific issuers, changes in market benchmark
interest rates, or a combination thereof, all as compared to
those prevailing when the investment securities were acquired.
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
In assessing default risk on these investment securities,
excluding the Company’s retained subordinated securities,
the Company has qualitatively considered the key factors
identified above and determined that it expects to collect all
of the contractual cash flows due on the investment securities.
In assessing default risk on the retained subordinated
securities in 2009, the Company analyzed the projected cash
flows of the Lending Trust and determined that it expected to
collect all of the contractual cash flows due on the investment
securities.
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Overall, for the investment securities in gross unrealized loss
positions identified above, (a) the Company does not intend
to sell the investment securities, (b) it is more likely
than not that the Company will not be required to sell the
investment securities before recovery of the unrealized losses,
and (c) the Company expects that the contractual principal
and interest will be received on the investment securities. As a
result, the Company recognized no
<font style="white-space: nowrap">other-than-temporary</font>
impairments during the periods presented.
</div>
</div>
<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block TaggedfalsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherus-types:textBlockItemTypestringDescribes an entity's accounting policies for investments in financial assets, including marketable securities (debt and equity securities with readily determinable fair values), investments accounted for under the equity method and cost method, securities borrowed and loaned, and repurchase and resale agreements. For marketable securities, the description may include the entity's accounting treatment for transfers between investment categories and how the fair values for such securities are determined. Also, for all investments, an entity may describe its policy for assessing, recognizing and measuring impairment of the investment.Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)
-Number 115
-Paragraph 7-16
Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher SEC
-Name Regulation S-X (SX)
-Number 210
-Section 02
-Paragraph 2, 12
-Article 5
Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher SEC
-Name Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB)
-Number Topic 5
-Section M
Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name FASB Staff Position (FSP)
-Number FAS115-1/124-1
-Paragraph 7-18
Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)
-Number 107
-Paragraph 10, 11
falsefalse21true0axp_AssetSecuritizationPolicyAbstractaxpfalsenadurationAsset Securitization Policy [Abstract]falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00falsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherxbrli:stringItemTypestringAsset Securitization Policy [Abstract]falsefalse22false0us-gaap_TransfersAndServicingOfFinancialAssetsPolicyTextBlockus-gaaptruenadurationNo definition available.falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block Tagged Accounting Policy: axp-20101231_note7_accounting_policy_table1 - us-gaap:TransfersAndServicingOfFinancialAssetsPolicyTextBlock-->
<div align="left" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
The Company periodically securitizes cardmember receivables and
loans arising from its card business through the transfer of
those assets to securitization trusts. The trusts then issue
securities to third-party investors, collateralized by the
transferred assets.
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Cardmember receivables are transferred to the Charge Trust and
cardmember loans are transferred to the Lending Trust. As of
December 31, 2009 and for all prior periods, cardmember
receivables transferred to the Charge Trust did not qualify as
accounting sales and accordingly, the Charge Trust was
consolidated by the Company. As a result, securitized cardmember
receivables and the related debt securities issued to third
parties by the Charge Trust were included on the Company’s
Consolidated Balance Sheets. The Lending Trust met the criteria
of a QSPE for GAAP in effect through December 31, 2009 and,
accordingly, cardmember loans transferred to the Lending Trust
qualified as accounting sales. As a result, when cardmember
loans were sold through securitizations, the Company removed the
loans from its Consolidated Balance Sheets and recognized a gain
or loss on sale, recorded certain retained interests in the
securitization (i.e., retained subordinated securities and an
interest-only strip asset) and received an undivided pro-rata
interest in the excess loans held in the Lending Trust
(historically referred to as “seller’s interest”).
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Upon adoption of new GAAP effective January 1, 2010, the
Company continues to consolidate the Charge Trust. In addition,
the Company was required to change its accounting for the
Lending Trust, which is now consolidated. As a result, beginning
January 1, 2010, the securitized cardmember loans and the
related debt securities issued to third parties by the Lending
Trust are included on the Company’s Consolidated Balance
Sheets. Prior period Consolidated Financial Statements have not
been revised for this accounting change.
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
The Charge Trust and the Lending Trust are consolidated by
American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. (TRS),
which is a consolidated subsidiary of the Company. The trusts
are considered VIEs as they have insufficient equity at risk to
finance their activities, which are to issue securities that are
collateralized by the underlying cardmember receivables and
loans.
</div>
</div>
<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block TaggedfalsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherus-types:textBlockItemTypestringDescribes an entity's accounting policy for transfers and servicing financial assets, including securitization transactions as well as repurchase and resale agreements. This disclosure may include how the entity (1) determines whether a transaction should be accounted for as a sale; (2) accounts for a sale transaction, including the initial and subsequent accounting for any interests that the entity obtains or continues to hold in the transaction, how such interests are valued, and the significant assumptions used in the valuation; (3) accounts for a transaction that does not qualify for sale treatment (that is, a financing); and (4) accounts for its servicing assets and liabilities ("servicing"), including how such servicing is measured initially and subsequently, and the methodology and significant assumptions used to value such servicing.Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)
-Number 140
-Paragraph 9-15, 17
Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name FASB Interpretation (FIN)
-Number 41
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph a, b, c
Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name FASB Staff Position (FSP)
-Number FAS140-4 and FIN46(R)-8
-Paragraph B6-B12
Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)
-Number 140
-Paragraph 17
-Subparagraph e, f
falsefalse23true0axp_DerivativesAndHedgingActivitiesPolicyAbstractaxpfalsenadurationDerivatives And Hedging Activities Policy [Abstract]falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00falsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherxbrli:stringItemTypestringDerivatives And Hedging Activities Policy [Abstract]falsefalse24false0us-gaap_DerivativesPolicyTextBlockus-gaaptruenadurationNo definition available.falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block Tagged Accounting Policy: axp-20101231_note12_accounting_policy_table1 - us-gaap:DerivativesPolicyTextBlock-->
<div align="left" style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">DERIVATIVE
FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS THAT QUALIFY FOR HEDGE ACCOUNTING
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Derivatives executed for hedge accounting purposes are
documented and designated as such when the Company enters into
the contracts. In accordance with its risk management policies,
the Company structures its hedges with very similar terms to the
hedged items. The Company formally assesses, at inception of the
hedge accounting relationship and on a quarterly basis, whether
derivatives designated as hedges are highly effective in
offsetting the fair value or cash flows of the hedged items.
These assessments usually are made through the application of
the regression analysis method. If it is determined that a
derivative is not highly effective as a hedge, the Company will
discontinue the application of hedge accounting.
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">FAIR
VALUE HEDGES
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
A fair value hedge involves a derivative designated to hedge the
Company’s exposure to future changes in the fair value of
an asset or a liability, or an identified portion thereof that
is attributable to a particular risk. The Company is exposed to
interest rate risk associated with its fixed-rate long-term
debt. The Company uses interest rate swaps to convert certain
fixed-rate long-term debt to floating-rate at the time of
issuance. As of December 31, 2010 and 2009, the Company
hedged $15.9 billion
and $15.1 billion, respectively, of its fixed-rate debt to
floating-rate debt using interest rate swaps.
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
To the extent the fair value hedge is effective, the gain or
loss on the hedging instrument offsets the loss or gain on the
hedged item attributable to the hedged risk. Any difference
between the changes in the fair value of the derivative and the
hedged item is referred to as hedge ineffectiveness and is
reflected in earnings as a component of other, net expenses.
Hedge ineffectiveness may be caused by differences between the
debt’s interest coupon and the benchmark rate, which are
primarily due to credit spreads at inception of the hedging
relationship that are not reflected in the valuation of the
interest rate swap. Furthermore, hedge ineffectiveness may be
caused by changes in the relationship between
<font style="white-space: nowrap">3-month</font>
LIBOR and
<font style="white-space: nowrap">1-month</font>
LIBOR rates, as these so-called basis spreads may impact the
valuation of the interest rate swap without causing an
offsetting impact in the value of the hedged debt. If a fair
value hedge is de-designated or no longer considered to be
effective, changes in fair value of the derivative continue to
be recorded through earnings but the hedged asset or liability
is no longer adjusted for changes in fair value due to changes
in interest rates. The existing basis adjustment of the hedged
asset or liability is then amortized or accreted as an
adjustment to yield over the remaining life of that asset or
liability.
</div>
</div>
<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block Tagged Accounting Policy: axp-20101231_note12_accounting_policy_table2 - axp:DerivativesPolicyTextBlock-->
<div align="left" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">CASH
FLOW HEDGES
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
A cash flow hedge involves a derivative designated to hedge the
Company’s exposure to variable future cash flows
attributable to a particular risk. Such exposures may relate to
either an existing recognized asset or liability or a forecasted
transaction. The Company hedges existing long-term variable-rate
debt, the rollover of short-term borrowings and the anticipated
forecasted issuance of additional funding through the use of
derivatives, primarily interest rate swaps. These derivative
instruments effectively convert floating-rate debt to fixed-rate
debt for the duration of the instrument. As of December 31,
2010 and 2009, the Company hedged $1.3 billion and
$1.6 billion, respectively, of its floating debt using
interest rate swaps.
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
For derivatives designated as cash flow hedges, the effective
portion of the gain or loss on the derivatives is recorded in
AOCI and reclassified into earnings when the hedged cash flows
are recognized in earnings. The amount that is reclassified into
earnings is presented in the Consolidated Statements of Income
in the same line item in which the hedged instrument or
transaction is recognized, primarily in interest expense. Any
ineffective portion of the gain or loss on the derivatives is
reported as a component of other, net expenses. If a cash flow
hedge is de-designated or terminated prior to maturity, the
amount previously recorded in AOCI is recognized into earnings
over the period that the hedged item impacts earnings. If a
hedge relationship is discontinued because it is probable that
the forecasted transaction will not occur according to the
original strategy, any related amounts previously recorded in
AOCI are recognized into earnings immediately.
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
In the normal course of business, as the hedged cash flows are
recognized into earnings, the Company expects to reclassify
$11 million of net pretax losses on derivatives from AOCI
into earnings during the next 12 months.
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">NET
INVESTMENT HEDGES
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
A net investment hedge is used to hedge future changes in
currency exposure of a net investment in a foreign operation.
The Company primarily designates foreign currency derivatives,
typically foreign exchange forwards, and on occasion foreign
currency denominated debt, as hedges of net investments in
certain foreign operations. These instruments reduce exposure to
changes in currency exchange rates on the Company’s
investments in
<font style="white-space: nowrap">non-U.S. subsidiaries.</font>
The effective portion of the gain or loss on net investment
hedges is recorded in AOCI as part of the cumulative translation
adjustment. Any ineffective portion of the gain or loss on net
investment hedges is recognized in other, net expenses during
the period of change.
</div>
</div>
<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block Tagged Accounting Policy: axp-20101231_note12_accounting_policy_table3 - axp:DerivativesPolicyTextBlock-->
<div align="left" style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">DERIVATIVES
NOT DESIGNATED AS HEDGES
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
The Company has derivatives that act as economic hedges but are
not designated for hedge accounting purposes. Foreign currency
transactions and
<font style="white-space: nowrap">non-U.S. dollar</font>
cash flow exposures from time to time may be partially or fully
economically hedged through foreign currency contracts,
primarily foreign exchange forwards, options and cross-currency
swaps. These hedges generally mature within one year. Foreign
currency contracts involve the purchase and sale of a designated
currency at an agreed upon rate for settlement on a specified
date. The changes in the fair value of the derivatives
effectively offset the related foreign exchange gains or losses
on the underlying balance sheet exposures. From time to time,
the Company may enter into interest rate swaps to specifically
manage funding costs related to its proprietary card business.
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
The Company has certain operating agreements whose payments may
be linked to a market rate or price, primarily foreign currency
rates. The payment components of these agreements may meet the
definition of an embedded derivative, which is assessed to
determine if it requires separate accounting and reporting. If
so, the embedded derivative is accounted for separately and is
classified as a foreign exchange contract based on its primary
risk exposure. In addition, the Company also holds an investment
security containing an embedded equity-linked derivative.
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
For derivatives that are not designated as hedges, changes in
fair value are reported in current period earnings.
</div>
</div>
<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block TaggedfalsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherus-types:textBlockItemTypestringDescribes an entity's accounting policies for its derivative instruments and hedging activities. Disclosure may include: (1) Each method used to account for derivative financial instruments and derivative commodity instruments ("derivatives"); (2) the types of derivatives accounted for under each method; (3) the criteria required to be met for each accounting method used, including a discussion of the criteria required to be met for hedge or deferral accounting and accrual or settlement accounting (for example: whether and how risk reduction, correlation, designation, and effectiveness tests are applied); (4) the accounting method used if the criteria specified for hedge accounting are not met; (5) the method used to account for termination of derivatives designated as hedges or derivatives used to affect directly or indirectly the terms, fair values, or cash flows of a designated item; (6) the method used to account for derivatives when the designated item matures, is sold, is extinguished, or is terminated. In addition, the method used to account for derivatives designated to an anticipated transaction, when the anticipated transaction is no longer likely to occur; and (7) where and when derivatives, and their related gains (losses) are reported in the statement of financial position, cash flows, and results of operations and (8) an accounting policy decision to offset fair value amounts with counterparties. An entity should also consider describing its embedded derivatives, and the method(s) used to determine the fair values of derivatives and any significant assumptions used in such valuations.Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)
-Number 133
-Paragraph 44
Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher SEC
-Name Regulation S-X (SX)
-Number 210
-Section 08
-Paragraph n
-Article 4
Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name FASB Interpretation (FIN)
-Number 39
-Paragraph 10
falsefalse25true0axp_IncomeTaxPolicyAbstractaxpfalsenadurationIncome Tax Policy [Abstract]falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00falsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherxbrli:stringItemTypestringIncome Tax Policy [Abstract]falsefalse26false0us-gaap_IncomeTaxPolicyTextBlockus-gaaptruenadurationNo definition available.falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block Tagged Accounting Policy: axp-20101231_note17_accounting_policy_table1 - us-gaap:IncomeTaxPolicyTextBlock-->
<div align="left" style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
<div style="margin-top: 6pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
The Company records a deferred income tax (benefit) provision
when there are differences between assets and liabilities
measured for financial reporting and for income tax return
purposes. These temporary differences result in taxable or
deductible amounts in future years and are measured using the
tax rates and laws that will be in effect when such differences
are expected to reverse.
</div>
</div>
<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block Tagged Accounting Policy: axp-20101231_note17_accounting_policy_table2 - axp:IncomeTaxPolicyTextBlock-->
<div align="left" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
<div style="margin-top: 6pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
A valuation allowance is established when management determines
that it is more likely than not that all or some portion of the
benefit of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. The
valuation allowances as of December 31, 2010 and 2009 are
associated with net operating losses and other deferred tax
assets in certain
<font style="white-space: nowrap">non-U.S. operations</font>
of the Company.
</div>
</div>
<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block Tagged Accounting Policy: axp-20101231_note17_accounting_policy_table4 - axp:IncomeTaxPolicyTextBlock-->
<div align="left" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Interest and penalties relating to unrecognized tax benefits are
reported in the income tax provision.
</div>
</div>
<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block TaggedfalsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherus-types:textBlockItemTypestringDescribes an entity's accounting policy for income taxes, which may include its accounting policies for recognizing and measuring deferred tax assets and liabilities and related valuation allowances, recognizing investment tax credits, operating loss carryforwards, tax credit carryforwards, and other carryforwards, methodologies for determining its effective income tax rate and the characterization of interest and penalties in the financial statements.Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher AICPA
-Name Accounting Principles Board Opinion (APB)
-Number 4
-Paragraph 11
Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name FASB Interpretation (FIN)
-Number 48
-Paragraph 20
Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)
-Number 109
-Paragraph 6-34, 43, 47, 49
falsefalse27false0axp_IncomeTaxUncertaintiesPolicyTextBlockaxpfalsenadurationDescribes an entity's accounting policy for tax positions taken in the Company's tax return filed or to be filed for which it...falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block Tagged Accounting Policy: axp-20101231_note17_accounting_policy_table3 - axp:IncomeTaxUncertaintiesPolicyTextBlock-->
<div align="left" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
The Company, its wholly-owned U.S. subsidiaries, and
certain
<font style="white-space: nowrap">non-U.S. subsidiaries</font>
file a consolidated federal income tax return. The Company is
subject to the income tax laws of the United States, its states
and municipalities and those of the foreign jurisdictions in
which the Company operates. These tax laws are complex, and the
manner in which they apply to the taxpayer’s facts is
sometimes open to interpretation. Given these inherent
complexities, the Company must make judgments in assessing the
likelihood that a tax position will be sustained upon
examination by the taxing authorities based on the technical
merits of the tax position. A tax position is recognized only
when, based on management’s judgment regarding the
application of income tax laws, it is more likely
than not that the tax position will be sustained upon
examination. The amount of benefit recognized for financial
reporting purposes is based on management’s best judgment
of the most likely outcome resulting from examination given the
facts, circumstances and information available at the reporting
date. The Company adjusts the level of unrecognized tax benefits
when there is new information available to assess the likelihood
of the outcome.
</div>
</div>
<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block TaggedfalsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherus-types:textBlockItemTypestringDescribes an entity's accounting policy for tax positions taken in the Company's tax return filed or to be filed for which it is more likely than not that the tax position will not be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities (i.e., uncertain tax positions) and other types of contingencies related to income taxes.No authoritative reference available.falsefalse28true0axp_GoodwillAndIntangibleAssetsPolicyAbstractaxpfalsenadurationGoodwill And Intangible Assets Policyfalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00falsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherxbrli:stringItemTypestringGoodwill And Intangible Assets Policyfalsefalse29false0us-gaap_GoodwillAndIntangibleAssetsPolicyTextBlockus-gaaptruenadurationNo definition available.falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block Tagged Accounting Policy: axp-20101231_note8_accounting_policy_table1 - us-gaap:GoodwillAndIntangibleAssetsPolicyTextBlock-->
<div align="left" style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">GOODWILL
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Goodwill represents the excess of acquisition cost of an
acquired company over the fair value of assets acquired and
liabilities assumed. The Company assigns goodwill to its
reporting units for the purpose of impairment testing. A
reporting unit is defined as an operating segment, or a business
one level below an operating segment for which complete,
discrete financial information is available that management
regularly reviews. The Company evaluates goodwill for impairment
annually as of June 30 and between annual tests if events occur
or circumstances change that more likely than not reduce the
fair value of reporting units below their carrying amounts. The
goodwill impairment test utilizes a two-step approach. The first
step identifies whether there is potential impairment by
comparing the fair value of a reporting unit to the carrying
amount, including goodwill. If the fair value of a reporting
unit is less than its carrying amount, the second step of the
impairment test is required to measure the amount of any
impairment loss. As of December 31, 2010 and 2009, goodwill
was not impaired and there were no accumulated impairment losses.
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Goodwill impairment testing involves management judgment,
requiring an assessment of whether the carrying value of the
reporting unit can be supported by the fair value of the
individual reporting unit using widely accepted valuation
techniques, such as the market approach (earnings multiples or
transaction multiples) or income approach (discounted cash flow
methods). The fair values of the reporting units were determined
using a combination of valuation techniques consistent with the
income approach and the market approach.
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
When preparing discounted cash flow models under the income
approach, the Company uses internal forecasts to estimate future
cash flows expected to be generated by the reporting units.
Actual results may differ from forecasted results. The Company
uses the expected cost of equity financing, estimated using a
capital asset pricing model, to discount future cash flows for
each reporting unit. The Company believes the discount rates
used appropriately reflect the risks and uncertainties in the
financial markets generally and specifically in the
Company’s internally developed forecasts. Further, to
assess the reasonableness of the valuations derived from the
discounted cash flow models, the Company also analyzes
market-based multiples for similar industries of the reporting
unit, where available.
</div>
</div>
<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block Tagged Accounting Policy: axp-20101231_note8_accounting_policy_table2 - us-gaap:GoodwillAndIntangibleAssetsDisclosureTextBlock-->
<div align="left" style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">OTHER
INTANGIBLE ASSETS
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Intangible assets are amortized over their estimated useful
lives of 1 to 22 years. The Company reviews intangible
assets for impairment quarterly and whenever events and
circumstances indicate that their carrying amounts may not be
recoverable. In addition, on an annual basis, the Company
performs an impairment evaluation of all intangible assets by
assessing the recoverability of the asset values based on the
cash flows generated by the relevant assets or asset groups. An
impairment is recognized if the carrying amount is not
recoverable and exceeds the asset’s fair value.
</div>
</div>
<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block TaggedfalsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherus-types:textBlockItemTypestringDescribes an entity's accounting policy for goodwill and intangible assets. This accounting policy also may address how an entity assesses and measures impairment of goodwill and intangible assets.Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)
-Number 144
-Paragraph 7-18, 22
Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)
-Number 142
-Paragraph 4, 11-23, 26, 34
falsefalse30true0axp_CompensationRelatedCostsPolicyAbstractaxpfalsenadurationCompensation Related Costs Policy.falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00falsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherxbrli:stringItemTypestringCompensation Related Costs Policy.falsefalse31false0us-gaap_CompensationRelatedCostsPolicyTextBlockus-gaaptruenadurationNo definition available.falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block Tagged Accounting Policy: axp-20101231_note20_accounting_policy_table1 - us-gaap:CompensationRelatedCostsPolicyTextBlock-->
<div align="left" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">STOCK
OPTIONS
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Each stock option has an exercise price equal to the market
price of the Company’s common stock on the date of grant
and a contractual term of 10 years from the date of grant.
Stock options generally vest 25 percent per year beginning
with the first anniversary of the grant date.
</div>
</div>
<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block Tagged Accounting Policy: axp-20101231_note20_accounting_policy_table2 - axp:CompensationRelatedCostsPolicyTextBlock-->
<div align="left" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">RESTRICTED
STOCK AWARDS
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
RSAs are valued based on the stock price on the date of grant
and generally vest 25 percent per year, beginning with the
first anniversary of the grant date. RSA holders receive
non-forfeitable dividends or dividend equivalents. The total
fair value of shares vested during 2010, 2009 and 2008 was
$175 million, $44 million and $134 million,
respectively (based upon the Company’s stock price at the
vesting date).
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
The weighted-average grant date fair value of RSAs granted in
2010, 2009 and 2008, is $38.63, $18.04 and $48.29, respectively.
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">LIABILITY
BASED AWARDS
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Certain employees are awarded PGs and other incentive awards
that can be settled with cash or equity shares at the
Company’s discretion and final Compensation and Benefits
Committee payout approval. These awards earn value based on
performance and service conditions and vest over periods of one
to three years.
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
PGs and other incentive awards are classified as liabilities
and, therefore, the fair value is determined at the date of
grant and remeasured quarterly as part of compensation expense
over the performance and service periods. Cash paid upon vesting
of these awards was $64 million, $71 million and
$78 million in 2010, 2009 and 2008, respectively.
</div>
</div>
<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block TaggedfalsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherus-types:textBlockItemTypestringDescribes the entity's accounting policies for salaries, bonuses, incentive awards, postretirement and postemployment benefits granted to its employees, including share-based arrangements; describes its methodologies for measurement, and the bases for recognizing related assets and liabilities and recognizing and reporting compensation expense.Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)
-Number 123R
-Paragraph 4, 9-15, A240
Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)
-Number 132R
-Paragraph 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13
falsefalse32true0axp_MembershipRewardsPolicyAbstractaxpfalsenadurationMembership Rewards.falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00falsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherxbrli:stringItemTypestringMembership Rewards.falsefalse33false0axp_MembershipRewardsPolicyTextBlockaxpfalsenadurationDescribes the entity's accounting policies with respect to costs related to the Company's Membership Rewards program, the...falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block Tagged Accounting Policy: axp-20101231_note11_accounting_policy_table1 - axp:MembershipRewardsPolicyTextBlock-->
<div align="left" style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">MEMBERSHIP
REWARDS
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
The Membership Rewards program allows enrolled cardmembers to
earn points that can be redeemed for a broad range of rewards
including travel, entertainment, retail certificates and
merchandise. The Company establishes balance sheet liabilities
which represent the estimated cost of points earned to date that
are ultimately expected to be redeemed. These liabilities
reflect management’s best estimate of the cost of future
redemptions. An ultimate redemption rate and weighted average
cost per point are key factors used to approximate the
Membership Rewards liability. Management uses models to estimate
ultimate redemption rates based on historical redemption data,
card product type, year of program enrollment, enrollment tenure
and card spend levels. The weighted-average cost per point is
determined using actual redemptions during the previous
12 months, adjusted as appropriate for recent changes in
redemption costs.
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
The provision for the cost of Membership Rewards points is
included in marketing, promotion, rewards and cardmember
services. The Company continually evaluates its reserve
methodology and assumptions based on developments in redemption
patterns, cost per point redeemed, contract changes and other
factors.
</div>
</div>
<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block TaggedfalsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherus-types:textBlockItemTypestringDescribes the entity's accounting policies with respect to costs related to the Company's Membership Rewards program, the methodology for determining the estimated cost of Membership Rewards points earned to date that are ultimately expected to be redeemed, and the provision for the cost of Membership Rewards points.No authoritative reference available.falsefalse34true0axp_RegulatoryMattersAndCapitalAdequacyPolicyAbstractaxpfalsenadurationRegulatory Matters and Capital Adequacy Policy.falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00falsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherxbrli:stringItemTypestringRegulatory Matters and Capital Adequacy Policy.falsefalse35false0us-gaap_DescriptionOfOtherRegulatoryLimitationsus-gaaptruenadurationNo definition available.falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalse1falsefalsefalse00<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block Tagged Accounting Policy: axp-20101231_note23_accounting_policy_table1 - us-gaap:DescriptionOfOtherRegulatoryLimitations-->
<div align="left" style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">RESTRICTED
NET ASSETS OF SUBSIDIARIES
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Certain of the Company’s subsidiaries are subject to
restrictions on the transfer of net assets under debt agreements
and regulatory requirements. These restrictions have not had any
effect on the Company’s shareholder dividend policy and
management does not anticipate any impact in the future.
Procedures exist to transfer net assets between the Company and
its subsidiaries, while ensuring compliance with the various
contractual and regulatory constraints. As of December 31,
2010, the aggregate amount of net assets of subsidiaries that
are restricted to be transferred to American Express’
Parent Company (Parent Company) was approximately
$9.3 billion.
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">BANK
HOLDING COMPANY DIVIDEND RESTRICTIONS
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
The Company is limited in its ability to pay dividends by the
Federal Reserve which could prohibit a dividend that would be
considered an unsafe or unsound banking practice. It is the
policy of the Federal Reserve that bank holding companies
generally should pay dividends on common stock only out of net
income available to common shareholders generated over the past
year, and only if prospective earnings retention is consistent
with the organization’s current and expected future capital
needs, asset quality and overall financial condition. Moreover,
bank holding companies should not maintain dividend levels that
undermine a company’s ability to be a source of strength to
its banking subsidiaries. Under guidance issued by the Federal
Reserve in November 2010, a large bank holding company will face
particularly close scrutiny for any proposed dividend that
exceeds 30 percent of after-tax net income.
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">BANKS’
DIVIDEND RESTRICTIONS
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
In the year ended December 31, 2008, Centurion Bank and FSB
paid dividends from retained earnings to its parent of
$650 million and $150 million, respectively. No
dividends were paid in 2010 and 2009.
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
The Banks are subject to statutory and regulatory limitations on
their ability to pay dividends. The total amount of dividends
which may be paid at any date, subject to supervisory
considerations of the Banks’ regulators, is generally
limited to the retained earnings of the respective bank. As of
December 31, 2010 and 2009, the Banks’ retained
earnings, in the aggregate, available for the payment of
dividends were $3.6 billion and $2.1 billion,
respectively. In determining the dividends to pay its parent,
the Banks must also consider the effects on applicable
risk-based capital and leverage ratio requirements, as well as
policy statements of the federal regulatory agencies. In
addition, the Banks’ banking regulators have authority to
limit or prohibit the payment of a dividend by the Banks, if, in
the banking regulator’s opinion, payment of a dividend
would constitute an unsafe or unsound banking practice in light
of the financial condition of the banking organization.
</div>
</div>
<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block TaggedfalsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherus-types:textBlockItemTypestringA description of other regulatory limitations, to the extent they could materially affect the economic resources of the institution and claims to those resources.Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher AICPA
-Name Audit and Accounting Guide (AAG)
-Number AAG-DEP
-Chapter 17
-Paragraph 17
-IssueDate 2006-05-01
falsefalse36true0axp_CompensationAndRetirementDisclosureAbstractaxpfalsenadurationCompensation and retirement disclosure.falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00falsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherxbrli:stringItemTypestringCompensation and retirement disclosure.falsefalse37false0axp_PensionAndOtherPostretirementPlansPolicyTextBlockaxpfalsenadurationDescribes an entity's accounting policy for its pension and other postretirement benefit plans. This disclosure may address...falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block Tagged Accounting Policy: axp-20101231_note21_accounting_policy_table2 - axp:PensionAndOtherPostretirementPlansPolicyTextBlock-->
<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block Tagged Accounting Policy: axp-20101231_note21_accounting_policy_table1 - axp:CompensationRelatedCostsPolicyTextBlock-->
<div align="left" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">DEFINED
BENEFIT PENSION PLANS
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
The Company’s significant defined benefit pension plans
cover certain employees in the United States and United Kingdom.
Most employees outside the United States and United Kingdom are
covered by local retirement plans, some of which are funded,
while other employees receive payments at the time of retirement
or termination under applicable labor laws or agreements. The
Company complies with the minimum funding requirements in all
countries.
</div>
<!-- XBRL Pagebreak Begin -->
<font style="font-size: 8pt">
</font>
<!-- END PAGE WIDTH -->
<!-- PAGEBREAK -->
<div style="margin-left: 0%">
<!-- BEGIN PAGE WIDTH -->
<div align="center" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 7pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
</font>
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 0pt; font-size: 1pt">
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 0pt; font-size: 1pt">
</div>
<div align="center" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<b>
<font style="font-size: 11pt">
</font>
</b>
</div>
<!-- XBRL Pagebreak End -->
<div style="margin-top: 6pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
The Company sponsors the U.S. American Express Retirement
Plan (the Plan) for eligible employees in the United States. The
Plan is a noncontributory defined benefit plan and a
tax-qualified retirement plan subject to the Employee Retirement
Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA). The Plan is
closed to new entrants and existing participants no longer
accrue future benefits. The Company funds retirement costs
through a trust and complies with the applicable minimum funding
requirements specified by ERISA. The funded status of the Plan
on an ERISA basis as of October 1, 2010 (applicable plan
year) is 95 percent. The calculation assumptions for ERISA
differ from the calculation of the net funded status for GAAP
purposes (see Net Funded Status as of December 31, 2010 and
2009 in the table below).
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
The Plan is a cash balance plan and employees’ accrued
benefits are based on notional account balances, which are
maintained for each individual. Employees’ balances are
credited daily with interest at a fixed-rate. The interest rate
varies from a minimum of 5 percent to a maximum equal to
the lesser of (i) 10 percent or (ii) the
applicable interest rate set forth in the Plan.
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
The Company also sponsors an unfunded non-qualified plan, which
was renamed the Retirement Restoration Plan (the RRP) effective
January 1, 2011, for employees compensated above a certain
level to supplement their pension benefits that are limited by
the Internal Revenue Code. The RRP’s terms generally
parallel those of the Plan, except that the definitions of
compensation and payment options differ.
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
For each plan, the net funded status is defined by GAAP
governing retirement benefits as the difference between the fair
value of plan assets and the respective plan’s projected
benefit obligation.
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div align="center" style="font-size: 1pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">Asset
Allocation and Fair Value
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
The Benefit Plans Investment Committee (BPIC) is appointed by
the Compensation and Benefits Committee of the Company’s
Board of Directors and has the responsibility of reviewing and
approving the investment policies related to plan assets for the
Company’s defined benefit pension plans; evaluating the
performance of the investments in accordance with the investment
policy; reviewing the investment objectives, risk
characteristics, expenses and historical performance; and
selecting, removing and evaluating the investment managers. The
BPIC typically meets quarterly to review the performance of the
various investment managers and service providers as well as
other investment related matters. The Company’s significant
defined benefit pension plans have investment policies, which
prescribe targets for the amount of assets that can be invested
in a security class in order to mitigate the detrimental impact
of adverse or unexpected results with respect to any individual
security class on the overall portfolio. The portfolios are
diversified by asset type, risk characteristics and
concentration of investments. Refer to Note 3 for a
discussion related to valuation techniques used to measure fair
value, including a description of the three-level fair value
hierarchy of inputs.
</div>
</div>
<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block Tagged Accounting Policy: axp-20101231_note21_accounting_policy_table3 - us-gaap:PensionAndOtherPostretirementBenefitsDisclosureTextBlock-->
<div align="left" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">DEFINED
CONTRIBUTION RETIREMENT PLANS
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
The Company sponsors defined contribution retirement plans, the
principal plan being the Retirement Savings Plan (RSP), a 401(k)
savings plan with a profit sharing component. The RSP is a
tax-qualified retirement plan subject to ERISA and covers most
employees in the United States. The RSP held 12 million and
13 million shares of American Express Common Stock as of
December 31, 2010 and 2009, respectively, beneficially for
employees. The Company matches employee contributions to the
plan up to a maximum of 5 percent of total pay, subject to
the limitations under the Internal Revenue Code (IRC).
Additional annual conversion contributions of up to
8 percent of total pay are provided into the RSP for
eligible employees. The Company also sponsors an RSP RRP, which
is an unfunded non-qualified plan for employees whose RSP
benefits are limited by the IRC and its terms generally parallel
those of the RSP. In addition, the RSP RRP was amended effective
January 1, 2011 such that the Company matches employee
contributions up to a maximum of 5 percent of total pay in
excess of IRC compensation limits only to the extent the
employee contributes to the plan.
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
The total expense for all defined contribution retirement plans
globally was $217 million, $118 million and
$211 million in 2010, 2009 and 2008, respectively. The
increase in expense in 2010 primarily reflects the
Company’s reinstatement in January of the employer match
and conversion contributions.
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">OTHER
POSTRETIREMENT BENEFIT PLANS
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
The Company sponsors unfunded other postretirement benefit plans
that provide health care and life insurance to certain retired
U.S. employees.
</div>
</div>
<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block TaggedfalsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherus-types:textBlockItemTypestringDescribes an entity's accounting policy for its pension and other postretirement benefit plans. This disclosure may address (1) the types of plans sponsored by the entity, and the benefits provided by each plan (2) groups that participate in (or are covered by) each plan (3) how plan assets, liabilities and expenses are measured, including the use of any actuaries and (4) significant assumptions used by the entity to value plan assets and liabilities and how such assumptions are derived.No authoritative reference available.falsefalse38true0axp_CommitmentsAndContingenciesDisclosureAbstractaxpfalsenadurationCommitments And Contingencies Disclosure.falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00falsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherxbrli:stringItemTypestringCommitments And Contingencies Disclosure.falsefalse39false0us-gaap_CommitmentsAndContingenciesPolicyTextBlockus-gaaptruenadurationNo definition available.falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block Tagged Accounting Policy: axp-20101231_note24_accounting_policy_table1 - us-gaap:CommitmentsAndContingenciesPolicyTextBlock-->
<div align="left" style="font-size: 13pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
<div style="margin-top: 6pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">LEGAL
CONTINGENCIES
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
The Company and its subsidiaries are involved in a number of
legal proceedings concerning matters arising in connection with
the conduct of their respective business activities and are
periodically subject to governmental examinations (including by
regulatory authorities), information gathering requests,
subpoenas, inquiries and investigations (collectively,
“governmental examinations”). As of December 31,
2010, the Company and various of its subsidiaries were named as
a defendant or were otherwise involved in numerous legal
proceedings and governmental examinations in various
jurisdictions, both in the United States and outside the United
States. The Company discloses certain of its more significant
legal proceedings and governmental examinations under
“Legal Proceedings” in its Annual Report on
<font style="white-space: nowrap">Form 10-K</font>
for the year ended December 31, 2010 (“Legal
Proceedings”).
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
The Company has recorded liabilities for certain of its
outstanding legal proceedings and governmental examinations. A
liability is accrued when it is both (a) probable that a
loss with respect to the legal proceeding has occurred and
(b) the amount of loss can be reasonably estimated
(although, as discussed below, there may be an exposure to loss
in excess of the accrued liability). The Company evaluates, on a
quarterly basis, developments in legal proceedings and
governmental examinations that could cause an increase or
decrease in the amount of the liability that has been previously
accrued.
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
The Company’s legal proceedings range from cases brought by
a single plaintiff to class actions with hundreds of thousands
of putative class members. These legal proceedings, as well as
governmental examinations, involve various lines of business of
the Company and a variety of claims (including, but not limited
to, common law tort, contract, antitrust and consumer protection
claims), some of which present novel factual allegations
<font style="white-space: nowrap">and/or</font>
unique legal theories. While some matters pending against the
Company specify the damages claimed by the plaintiff, many seek
a not-yet-quantified amount of damages or are at very early
stages of the legal process. Even when the amount of damages
claimed against the Company are stated, the claimed amount may
be exaggerated
<font style="white-space: nowrap">and/or</font>
unsupported. As a result, some matters have not yet progressed
sufficiently through discovery
<font style="white-space: nowrap">and/or</font>
development of important factual information and legal issues to
enable the Company to estimate a range of possible loss.
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Other matters have progressed sufficiently through discovery
<font style="white-space: nowrap">and/or</font>
development of important factual information and legal issues
such that the Company is able to estimate a range of possible
loss. Accordingly, for those legal proceedings and governmental
examination disclosed in Legal Proceedings as to which a loss is
reasonably possible in future periods, whether in excess of a
related accrued liability or where there is no accrued
liability, and for which the Company is able to estimate a range
of possible loss, the current estimated range is zero to
$500 million in excess of the accrued liability (if any)
related to those matters. This aggregate range represents
management’s estimate of possible loss with respect to
these matters and is based on currently available information.
This estimated range of possible loss does not represent the
Company’s maximum loss exposure. The legal proceedings and
governmental examinations underlying the estimated range will
change from time to time and actual results may vary
significantly from the current estimate.
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Based on its current knowledge, and taking into consideration
its litigation-related liabilities, the Company believes it is
not a party to, nor are any of its properties the subject of,
any pending legal proceeding or governmental examination that
would have a material adverse effect on the Company’s
consolidated financial condition or liquidity. However, in light
of the uncertainties involved in such matters, the ultimate
outcome of a particular matter could be material to the
Company’s operating results for a particular period
depending on, among other factors, the size of the loss or
liability imposed and the level of the Company’s income for
that period.
</div>
</div>
<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block TaggedfalsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherus-types:textBlockItemTypestringDescribes an entity's accounting policy for commitments and contingencies, which may include policies for recognizing and measuring loss and gain contingencies.No authoritative reference available.falsefalse40true0axp_SegmentReportingDisclosureAbstractaxpfalsenadurationSegment Reporting Disclosure.falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00falsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherxbrli:stringItemTypestringSegment Reporting Disclosure.falsefalse41false0axp_SegmentReportingPolicyTextBlockaxpfalsenadurationDescribes the policy related to the Company's reportable operating segments, including the factors the Company uses to...falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block Tagged Accounting Policy: axp-20101231_note25_accounting_policy_table1 - axp:SegmentReportingPolicyTextBlock-->
<div align="left" style="font-size: 13pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
<div style="margin-top: 6pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">REPORTABLE
OPERATING SEGMENTS
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
The Company is a leading global payments and travel company that
is principally engaged in businesses comprising four reportable
operating segments: USCS, ICS, GCS and GNMS.
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
The Company considers a combination of factors when evaluating
the composition of its reportable operating segments, including
the results reviewed by the chief operating decision maker,
economic characteristics, products and services offered, classes
of customers, product distribution channels, geographic
considerations (primarily United States versus non-U.S.), and
regulatory environment considerations. The following is a brief
description of the primary business activities of the
Company’s four reportable operating segments:
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 6pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="text-align: left">
<tr>
<td width="1%"></td>
<td width="99%"></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<td> <font style="color: #009baa">•</font> 
</td>
<td align="left"> USCS issues a wide range of card products and services to
consumers and small businesses in the United States, and
provides consumer travel services to cardmembers and other
consumers.
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="line-height: 6pt; font-size: 1pt">
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<td> <font style="color: #009baa">•</font> 
</td>
<td align="left"> ICS issues proprietary consumer and small business cards outside
the United States.
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="line-height: 6pt; font-size: 1pt">
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<td> <font style="color: #009baa">•</font> 
</td>
<td align="left"> GCS offers global corporate payment and travel-related products
and services to large and mid-sized companies.
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="line-height: 6pt; font-size: 1pt">
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<td> <font style="color: #009baa">•</font> 
</td>
<td align="left"> GNMS operates a global general-purpose charge and credit card
network, which includes both proprietary cards and cards issued
under network partnership agreements. It also manages merchant
services globally, which includes signing merchants to accept
cards as well as processing and settling card transactions for
those merchants. This segment also offers merchants
<font style="white-space: nowrap">point-of-sale</font>
products, servicing and settlements, and marketing and
information programs and services.
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<div style="margin-top: 6pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Corporate functions and auxiliary businesses, including the
Company’s publishing business, the Enterprise Growth Group
(including the Global Prepaid Group), as well as other company
operations are included in Corporate & Other.
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Beginning in the first quarter of 2010, the Company made changes
to the manner in which it allocates equity capital as well as
funding and the related interest expense charged to its
reportable operating segments. The changes reflect the inclusion
of additional factors in its allocation methodologies that the
Company believes more accurately reflect the capital
characteristics and funding requirements of its segments. The
segment results for 2009 and 2008 have been revised for this
change.
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Beginning in 2009, the Company changed the manner by which it
assesses the performance of its reportable operating segments to
exclude the impact of its excess liquidity funding levels.
Accordingly, the debt, cash and investment balances associated
with the Company’s excess liquidity funding and the related
net negative interest spread are not included within the
reportable operating segment results (primarily USCS and GCS
segments) and are reported in the Corporate & Other
segment for 2010 and 2009. The segment results for 2008 have not
been revised for this change.
</div>
</div>
<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block Tagged Accounting Policy: axp-20101231_note25_accounting_policy_table2 - us-gaap:ScheduleOfSegmentReportingInformationBySegmentTextBlock-->
<div align="left" style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">Total
Revenues Net of Interest Expense
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
The Company allocates discount revenue and certain other
revenues among segments using a transfer pricing methodology.
Segments earn discount revenue based on the volume of merchant
business generated by cardmembers. Within the USCS, ICS and GCS
segments, discount revenue reflects the issuer component of the
overall discount rate; within the GNMS segment, discount revenue
reflects the network and merchant component of the overall
discount rate. Total interest income and net card fees are
directly attributable to the segment in which they are reported.
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">Provisions
for Losses
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
The provisions for losses are directly attributable to the
segment in which they are reported.
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">Expenses
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Marketing, promotion, rewards and cardmember services expenses
are reflected in each segment based on actual expenses incurred,
with the exception of brand advertising, which is reflected in
the GNMS segment. Rewards and cardmember services expenses are
reflected in each segment based on actual expenses incurred
within each segment. Salaries and employee benefits and other
operating expenses reflect expenses such as professional
services, occupancy and equipment and communications incurred
directly within each segment. In addition, expenses related to
the Company’s support services, such as technology costs,
are allocated to each segment based on support service
activities directly attributable to the segment.
</div>
<!-- XBRL Pagebreak Begin -->
<font style="font-size: 8pt">
</font>
<!-- END PAGE WIDTH -->
<!-- PAGEBREAK -->
<div style="margin-left: 0%">
<!-- BEGIN PAGE WIDTH -->
<div align="center" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 7pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times">
</font>
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 0pt; font-size: 1pt">
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 0pt; font-size: 1pt">
</div>
<div align="center" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<b>
<font style="font-size: 11pt">
</font>
</b>
</div>
<!-- XBRL Pagebreak End -->
<div style="margin-top: 6pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 1%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Other overhead expenses, such as staff group support functions,
are allocated from Corporate & Other to the other
segments based on each segment’s relative level of pretax
income, with the exception of certain fourth quarter 2008
severance and other related charges of $133 million from
the Company’s fourth quarter restructuring initiatives for
staff group support functions. This presentation is consistent
with how such charges were reported internally. See further
discussion in Note 16 regarding this corporate initiative.
Financing requirements are managed on a consolidated basis.
Funding costs are allocated based on segment funding
requirements.
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">Capital
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Each business segment is allocated capital based on established
business model operating requirements, risk measures and
regulatory capital requirements. Business model operating
requirements include capital needed to support operations and
specific balance sheet items. The risk measures include
considerations for credit, market and operational risk.
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 1pt"> 
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; color: #000000; background: transparent">
<font style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #009baa">Income
Taxes
</font>
</div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times; color: #000000; background: transparent">
Income tax provision (benefit) is allocated to each business
segment based on the effective tax rates applicable to various
businesses that make up the segment.
</div>
</div>
</div>
<!--DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" -->
<!-- Begin Block TaggedfalsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherus-types:textBlockItemTypestringDescribes the policy related to the Company's reportable operating segments, including the factors the Company uses to determine the composition of its reportable operating segments and the allocation of certain line items amongst segments.No authoritative reference available.falsefalse139Summary of Significant Accounting (Policies)UnKnownUnKnownUnKnownUnKnownfalsetrue
