American Express plans to invest in product innovation in 2025 to keep up with anticipated growth in 2024.  

“We currently have plans to refresh around 40 products globally next year,” Chief Financial Officer Christophe Caillec said today during the card giant’s fourth-quarter earnings call. 

The focus on products is designed to keep up with client demand, Caillec said. During Q4, American Express reported the following growth: 

• Acquired 2.9 million new cards; 
• Revenue growth was $15.8 billion, up 11% year over year; and  
• Millennial and Gen Z customers were 60% of all new customer acquisition in 2023.  

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Amex is also investing in its overall technology capabilities, Chief Executive Steve Squeri said during the call.  

“In executing the plan, we focused on listening to our customers and understanding their needs, and we invested in innovating our value propositions, as well as uplifting our marketing and technology capabilities and backing our colleagues to meet those needs,” Squeri said.  

The financial institution’s operating expenses, which include data processing and equipment spend, increased 3% YoY to $4.2 billion, according to the earnings presentation.  

BY THE NUMBERS: In Q4, Amex reported; 

• Net income of $1.9 billion, up 11% YoY; 
• Total interest income of $5.5 billion, up 40% YoY; and 
• Deposits of $1.3 billion, up 78% YoY. 

FLASHBACK: In July, Amex teamed up with Square, to launch business credit cards to customers. Additional data points like business sales processed through Square’s platforms or a business’s credit score, are taken into account to determine the credit limit, a Square spokesperson previously told Bank Automation News. 

FUTURE LOOK: The bank aims to increase its focus on premium members which have become a “growing component of our revenue mix,” Squeri said, adding that the company aims to grow its revenue by 9% to11% in 2024. 

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