✦ Dining: Resy, Tock and TheForkNarrow moat

American Express (AXP) — the future bets

American Express is buying restaurant booking platforms so that its premium card gets its holder a table, a benefit rivals cannot simply pay for.

American Express is betting that the restaurant table is a benefit worth owning rather than renting. Its U.S. Consumer Services segment "also manages our dining platform"1, and the company has been "integrating the Tock and Rooam acquisitions" into it2. In the second quarter of 2026 it announced the proposed acquisition of TheFork, a European restaurant booking platform with 50,000 restaurants across 11 countries3.

Growth described on the Q2 2026 call (%)+22%Global travel bookings+11%U.S. consumer spending+9%Total billed businessAmerican Express Q2 2026 call (third-party summary) and earnings release
A European booking platform on top of an American one.

The logic is the logic of the whole premium card. Dining is where cardholders spend often, where reservations at popular restaurants are scarce, and where a card company that controls access can offer something a rival cannot simply buy. A premium card that gets its holder a table is worth more than one that only earns points on the bill.

The bet also helps the merchant side of the loop. A restaurant that takes bookings through an Amex-owned platform is a merchant with a deeper relationship to Amex than one that merely accepts the card, and Amex competes for "dining experiences" as a named part of the premium contest4.

The prices paid are not disclosed. TheFork's completion depends on a "labor consultation process and receipt of regulatory approvals"5, and the filings give no figure for Tock or Rooam either. That makes the bet hard to judge on return.

On the call, the company described double-digit growth in Resy restaurants and 22% growth in global travel bookings6, figures taken from a third-party summary of the call.

Dining is also where the company is testing software agents. At the end of 2025 it launched Dining Companion and said it was developing standards with partners to enable agent-driven commerce7. A booking platform owned by the card issuer is a natural place to let an agent make the reservation and pay for the meal.

The measure of success is spending, not bookings. Travel and entertainment was 28% of billed business in the second quarter of 20268; if the dining platforms worked, the dining part of that spending should grow faster than billed business as a whole, and a dining share that stayed flat would mean Amex had bought booking platforms that its cardholders did not use more because of the card.

Moat trajectory: Widening

TheFork proposed (50,000 restaurants, 11 countries); Tock and Rooam being integrated.

The number that tests this moat
Reported
Travel and entertainment share of billed business, latest quarter
28% (Q2 2026)

The spending the dining and travel platforms should grow; a flat share would mean the platforms were not changing behaviour.

Source: American Express Q2 2026 statistical supplement ↗
References
  1. ReportedIts U.S. Consumer Services segment "also manages our dining platform", and the company has been "integrating the Tock and Rooam acquisitions" into it.
    American Express Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 - reportable segments (Note 23) and revenue and pretax income by region. — FY2025 · publ. 6 February 2026 · source ↗
  2. ReportedIts U.S. Consumer Services segment "also manages our dining platform", and the company has been "integrating the Tock and Rooam acquisitions" into it.
    American Express Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 - reportable segments (Note 23) and revenue and pretax income by region. — FY2025 · publ. 6 February 2026 · source ↗
  3. ReportedIn the second quarter of 2026 it announced the proposed acquisition of TheFork, a European restaurant booking platform with 50,000 restaurants across 11 countries.
    American Express second-quarter 2026 earnings release, Form 8-K exhibit 99.1. — Q2 2026 · publ. 24 July 2026 · source ↗
  4. ReportedA restaurant that takes bookings through an Amex-owned platform is a merchant with a deeper relationship to Amex than one that merely accepts the card, and Amex competes for "dining experiences" as a named part of the premium contest.
    American Express Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 - Item 1A risk factors, competition and regulation. — FY2025 · publ. 6 February 2026 · source ↗
  5. ReportedTheFork's completion depends on a "labor consultation process and receipt of regulatory approvals", and the filings give no figure for Tock or Rooam either.
    American Express Form 10-Q for the quarter ended 30 June 2026 - capital return, held-for-sale cobrand portfolios, discount revenue drivers and the Millennial and Gen-Z cohort. — Q2 2026 · publ. 24 July 2026 · source ↗
  6. Third-party estimateOn the call, the company described double-digit growth in Resy restaurants and 22% growth in global travel bookings, figures taken from a third-party summary of the call.
    American Express second-quarter 2026 earnings call transcript (third-party transcript). — Q2 2026 · publ. 24 July 2026 · source ↗
  7. ReportedAt the end of 2025 it launched Dining Companion and said it was developing standards with partners to enable agent-driven commerce.
    American Express fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 earnings release, Form 8-K exhibit 99.1 - 2026 guidance and the dividend increase. — Q4 2025 · publ. 30 January 2026 · source ↗
  8. ReportedTravel and entertainment was 28% of billed business in the second quarter of 2026; if the dining platforms worked, the dining part of that spending should grow faster than billed business as a whole, and a dining share that stayed flat would mean Amex had bought booking platforms that its cardholders did not use more because of the card.
    American Express second-quarter 2026 statistical supplement, Form 8-K exhibit 99.2 - segment results, card metrics, capital and credit - consolidated results, card metrics, capital and credit. — Q2 2026 · publ. 24 July 2026 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 28, 2026