Customer Deposits (Details 1) - USD ($) $ in Millions	Mar. 31, 2022	Dec. 31, 2021
Deposits, by Type
Savings and transaction accounts	$ 71,512	$ 66,142
Certificates of deposit:
Direct	1,229	1,415
Third-party (brokered)	4,018	3,095
Sweep accounts – Third-party (brokered)	13,146	12,658
Other deposits	42	42
Total customer deposits	90,917	84,382
Card Member Credit Balances
Certificates of deposit:
Card Member credit balances	$ 970	$ 1,030

Interest-bearing Domestic Deposit, Savings and Checking

No definition available.

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Namespace Prefix:	axp_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Other Interest and Noninterest-Bearing Deposit Liabilities

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	axp_OtherInterestAndNoninterestBearingDepositLiabilities
Namespace Prefix:	axp_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Represents third party certificate of deposit accounts offered by the Company's Banks.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	axp_ThirdPartyCertificatesOfDeposit
Namespace Prefix:	axp_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Represents third party sweep accounts offered by the Company's Banks.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	axp_ThirdPartySweepAccounts
Namespace Prefix:	axp_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The aggregate of all deposit liabilities held by the entity, including foreign and domestic, interest and noninterest bearing; may include demand deposits, saving deposits, Negotiable Order of Withdrawal (NOW) and time deposits among others.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.9-03.12)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=120398452&loc=d3e534808-122878

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_Deposits
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Amount of interest-bearing domestic certificate of deposit liabilities.

+ References

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The aggregate amount of all domestic and foreign noninterest-bearing deposits liabilities held by the entity.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_NoninterestBearingDepositLiabilities
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Details

Name:	axp_CreditBalancesAxis=axp_CardmemberCreditBalancesMember
Namespace Prefix:
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Balance Type:
Period Type: