One Hundred and Ninety Million LocationsNarrow moat

American Express (AXP) — moat facet

American Express is buying away its oldest weakness, 20 million merchant locations at a time, and paying for it with a lower average rate.

The oldest complaint about American Express, that too many shops will not take it, is being answered with numbers. On 28 September 2026 the company said its card was accepted at more than 190 million merchant locations worldwide, "an increase of approximately 20 million locations this year"1. It added that the number of Amex-accepting locations outside the United States "has more than doubled over the last four years"2.

Billed business growth by segment, 2025 (%)+14%International Card Services+8%U.S. Consumer Services+3%Commercial ServicesAmerican Express Q4 2025 statistical supplement
The segment where acceptance is being built is the one growing fastest.

Acceptance is the half of a network that a closed loop has to build for itself. Visa and Mastercard sign merchants through acquiring banks; Amex acquires merchants itself through Global Merchant and Network Services, the segment that "acquires merchants" and runs the network3. Every new location is either a contract Amex signed or a contract a partner signed on its behalf.

The reason to pay for that effort is the cardholder abroad. International Card Services billed business grew 14% in 2025 to $418.0 billion4, faster than U.S. consumer spending at 8% and commercial spending at 3%5. A cardholder who finds the card refused on a trip learns to carry something else, and the network pays for that lesson in every other purchase.

Wider acceptance also helps the merchant fee argument at home. The fewer places a cardholder meets a refusal, the more natural it is to use the card everywhere, which raises the spending per card that justifies the fee.

The cost is visible in the price. Amex says it has experienced "erosion of our merchant discount rate"6 as acceptance grows into smaller and cheaper merchants, and the company-wide rate fell to 2.24% in 20257. Winning the corner shop means charging it less.

Acceptance growth is still being counted in millions of locations. At the end of 2025 the company said it had "added millions of new merchant locations globally in 2025"8, and by September 2026 the total had passed 190 million9.

International billed business is the growth line that has to justify the effort. It grew 13% in the second quarter of 202610. If acceptance kept rising by tens of millions of locations while international billed business grew no faster than U.S. spending, Amex would be buying coverage that its cardholders did not use.

Moat trajectory: Widening

More than 190 million locations in September 2026, about 20 million added in the year; non-US locations more than doubled in four years.

The number that tests this moat
Reported
International Card Services billed business growth, latest quarter
+13% (Q2 2026); +14% in 2025 to $418.0bn

Whether wider acceptance abroad turns into spending; growth no faster than the U.S. would mean coverage nobody used.

Source: American Express Q2 2026 statistical supplement ↗
⚠ Threats to the moat
⚠ THREAT 01
Coverage Bought With Price
Amex is winning the corner shop by charging it less, and the average rate pays for every new sign in the window.
References
  1. ReportedOn 28 September 2026 the company said its card was accepted at more than 190 million merchant locations worldwide, "an increase of approximately 20 million locations this year".
    American Express release via Business Wire, 28 September 2026 - accepted at more than 190 million merchant locations; locations outside the United States more than doubled in four years. — September 2026 · publ. 28 September 2026 · source ↗
  2. ReportedIt added that the number of Amex-accepting locations outside the United States "has more than doubled over the last four years".
    American Express release via Business Wire, 28 September 2026 - accepted at more than 190 million merchant locations; locations outside the United States more than doubled in four years. — September 2026 · publ. 28 September 2026 · source ↗
  3. ReportedVisa and Mastercard sign merchants through acquiring banks; Amex acquires merchants itself through Global Merchant and Network Services, the segment that "acquires merchants" and runs the network.
    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 ↗
  4. ReportedInternational Card Services billed business grew 14% in 2025 to $418.0 billion, faster than U.S. consumer spending at 8% and commercial spending at 3%.
    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 ↗
  5. ReportedInternational Card Services billed business grew 14% in 2025 to $418.0 billion, faster than U.S. consumer spending at 8% and commercial spending at 3%.
    American Express fourth-quarter 2025 statistical supplement, Form 8-K exhibit 99.2 - card metrics, billed business by segment, balance sheet and the definition of variable customer engagement costs. — Q4 2025 · publ. 30 January 2026 · source ↗
  6. ReportedAmex says it has experienced "erosion of our merchant discount rate" as acceptance grows into smaller and cheaper merchants, and the company-wide rate fell to 2.24% in 2025.
    American Express Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 - Item 1A risk factors, competition and regulation. — FY2025 · publ. 6 February 2026 · source ↗
  7. ReportedAmex says it has experienced "erosion of our merchant discount rate" as acceptance grows into smaller and cheaper merchants, and the company-wide rate fell to 2.24% in 2025.
    American Express Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 - Item 1A risk factors, competition and regulation. — FY2025 · publ. 6 February 2026 · source ↗
  8. ReportedAt the end of 2025 the company said it had "added millions of new merchant locations globally in 2025", and by September 2026 the total had passed 190 million.
    American Express Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 - card metrics: billed business, spending per card, cards-in-force, fees per card and network volumes. — FY2025 · publ. 6 February 2026 · source ↗
  9. ReportedAt the end of 2025 the company said it had "added millions of new merchant locations globally in 2025", and by September 2026 the total had passed 190 million.
    American Express release via Business Wire, 28 September 2026 - accepted at more than 190 million merchant locations; locations outside the United States more than doubled in four years. — September 2026 · publ. 28 September 2026 · source ↗
  10. ReportedIt grew 13% in the second quarter of 2026.
    American Express second-quarter 2026 statistical supplement, Form 8-K exhibit 99.2 - segment results, card metrics, capital and credit - segment revenue, pretax income and billed business. — Q2 2026 · publ. 24 July 2026 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 28, 2026