Loans and Card Member Receivables (Details 5) account in Thousands, $ in Millions	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2022 USD ($) account	Sep. 30, 2021 USD ($) account	Sep. 30, 2022 USD ($) account	Sep. 30, 2021 USD ($) account
Financing Receivable, Troubled Debt Restructuring [Line Items]
Number of Accounts \| account	5	6	15	28
Aggregated Outstanding Balance Upon Default \| $	$ 25	$ 43	$ 97	$ 205
Card Member Loans
Financing Receivable, Troubled Debt Restructuring [Line Items]
Number of Accounts \| account	4	4	12	20
Aggregated Outstanding Balance Upon Default \| $	$ 18	$ 32	$ 70	$ 148
Card Member Receivables
Financing Receivable, Troubled Debt Restructuring [Line Items]
Number of Accounts \| account	1	1	3	5
Aggregated Outstanding Balance Upon Default \| $	$ 7	$ 10	$ 27	$ 48
Other Loans
Financing Receivable, Troubled Debt Restructuring [Line Items]
Number of Accounts \| account	0	1	0	3
Aggregated Outstanding Balance Upon Default \| $	$ 0	$ 1	$ 0	$ 9

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

No definition available.

+ Details

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

- Definition

Number of financing receivable contracts modified as troubled debt restructuring within previous 12 months, with subsequent payment default.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 310
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 34
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123577603&loc=SL6953682-111524

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancingReceivableModificationsSubsequentDefaultNumberOfContracts1
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of financing receivable modified as troubled debt restructuring within previous 12 months, with subsequent payment default.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 310
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 34
-Subparagraph (a)(2)
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123577603&loc=SL6953682-111524

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancingReceivableModificationsSubsequentDefaultRecordedInvestment1
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancingReceivableRecordedInvestmentByClassOfFinancingReceivableAxis=axp_CardmemberLoansMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancingReceivableRecordedInvestmentByClassOfFinancingReceivableAxis=axp_CardmemberReceivablesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancingReceivableRecordedInvestmentByClassOfFinancingReceivableAxis=axp_OtherLoansMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: