We use derivative financial instruments to manage exposures to various market risks. These instruments derive their value from an underlying variable or multiple variables, including interest rates and foreign exchange rates, and are carried at fair value on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. These instruments enable end users to increase, reduce or alter exposure to various market risks and, for that reason, are an integral component of our market risk management. We do not transact in derivatives for trading purposes.

•Interest rate risk due to changes in the relationship between the interest rates on our assets (such as loans, receivables and investment securities) and the interest rates on our liabilities (such as debt and deposits); and

We centrally monitor market risks using market risk limits and escalation triggers as defined in our Asset/Liability Management Policy. Our market exposures are in large part by-products of the delivery of our products and services.

Interest rate risk primarily arises through the funding of Card Member receivables and fixed-rate loans with variable-rate borrowings, as well as through the risk to net interest margin from changes in the relationship between benchmark rates such as Prime, the secured overnight financing rate and the overnight indexed swap rate. Interest rate exposure within our charge card and fixed-rate lending products is managed by varying the proportion of total funding provided by short-term and variable-rate debt and deposits compared to fixed-rate debt and deposits. In addition, interest rate swaps are used from time to time to economically convert fixed-rate debt obligations to variable-rate obligations, or to convert variable-rate debt obligations to fixed-rate obligations. We may change the mix between variable-rate and fixed-rate funding based on changes in business volumes and mix, among other factors.

Foreign exchange exposures arise in four principal ways: (1) Card Member spending in currencies that are not the billing currency, (2) cross-currency transactions and balances from our funding activities, (3) cross-currency investing activities, such as in the equity of foreign subsidiaries, and (4) revenues generated and expenses incurred in foreign currencies, which impact earnings. Our foreign exchange risk is managed primarily by entering into agreements to buy and sell currencies on a spot basis or by hedging this market exposure, to the extent it is economical, through various means, including the use of derivatives such as foreign exchange forwards.

Derivatives may give rise to counterparty credit risk, which is the risk that a derivative counterparty will default on, or otherwise be unable to perform pursuant to, an uncollateralized derivative exposure. We manage this risk by considering the current exposure, which is the replacement cost of contracts on the measurement date, as well as estimating the maximum potential future exposure of the contracts over the next 12 months, considering such factors as the volatility of the underlying or reference index. To mitigate derivative credit risk, counterparties are required to be pre-approved by us and rated as investment grade, and counterparty risk exposures are centrally monitored.

A majority of our derivative assets and liabilities as of December 31, 2022 and 2021 are subject to master netting agreements with our derivative counterparties. Accordingly, where appropriate, we have elected to present derivative assets and liabilities with the same counterparty on a net basis in the Consolidated Balance Sheets. To further mitigate counterparty credit risk, we exercise our rights under executed credit support agreements with the respective derivative counterparties for our bilateral interest rate swaps and select foreign exchange contracts. These agreements require that, in the event the fair value change in the net derivatives position between the two parties exceeds certain dollar thresholds, the party in the net liability position posts collateral to its counterparty. All derivative contracts cleared through a central clearinghouse are collateralized to the full amount of the fair value of the contracts.

In relation to our credit risk, certain of our bilateral derivative agreements include provisions that allow our counterparties to terminate the agreement in the event of a downgrade of our debt credit rating below investment grade and settle the outstanding net liability position. As of December 31, 2022, these derivatives were not in a material net liability position and we had no material risk exposure to any individual derivative counterparty. Based on our assessment of the credit risk of our derivative counterparties and our own credit risk as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, no credit risk adjustment to the derivative portfolio was required.

Our derivatives are carried at fair value on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. The accounting for changes in fair value depends on the instruments’ intended use and the resulting hedge designation, if any, as discussed below. Refer to Note 14 for a description of our methodology for determining the fair value of derivatives.

The following table summarizes the total fair value, excluding interest accruals, of derivative assets and liabilities as of December 31:


	Other Assets Fair Value				Other Liabilities Fair Value
(Millions)	2022		2021		2022		2021
Derivatives designated as hedging instruments:
Fair value hedges - Interest rate contracts (a)	$	—	$	204	$	211	$	—
Net investment hedges - Foreign exchange contracts	350		219		251		54
Total derivatives designated as hedging instruments	350		423		462		54
Derivatives not designated as hedging instruments:
Foreign exchange contracts and other	171		167		339		85
Total derivatives, gross	521		590		801		139
Derivative asset and derivative liability netting (b)	(257)		(93)		(257)		(93)
Cash collateral netting (c)	(11)		(204)		(212)		(4)
Total derivatives, net	$	253	$	293	$	332	$	42

(c)Represents the offsetting of the fair value of bilateral interest rate contracts and certain foreign exchange contracts with the right to cash collateral held from the counterparty or cash collateral posted with the counterparty.

We posted $8 million and $11 million as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively, as initial margin on our centrally cleared interest rate swaps; such amounts are recorded within Other assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheets and are not netted against the derivative balances.

Derivatives executed for hedge accounting purposes are documented and designated as such when we enter into the contracts. In accordance with our risk management policies, we structure our hedges with terms similar to those of the item being hedged. We formally assess, at inception of the hedge accounting relationship and on a quarterly basis, whether derivatives designated as hedges are highly effective in offsetting the fair value or cash flows of the hedged items. These assessments usually are made through the application of a regression analysis method. If it is determined that a derivative is not highly effective as a hedge, we will discontinue the application of hedge accounting.

A fair value hedge involves a derivative designated to hedge our exposure to future changes in the fair value of an asset or a liability, or an identified portion thereof, that is attributable to a particular risk.

We are exposed to interest rate risk associated with our fixed-rate debt obligations. At the time of issuance, certain fixed-rate long-term debt obligations are designated in fair value hedging relationships, using interest rate swaps, to economically convert the fixed interest rate to a floating interest rate. We had $8.1 billion and $12.9 billion of fixed-rate debt obligations designated in fair value hedging relationships as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

Gains or losses on the fair value hedging instrument principally offset the losses or gains on the hedged item attributable to the hedged risk. The changes in the fair value of the derivative and the changes in the hedged item may not fully offset due to differences between a debt obligation’s interest rate and the benchmark rate, primarily due to credit spreads at inception of the hedging relationship that are not reflected in the fair value of the interest rate swap.

The following table presents the gains and losses recognized in Interest expense on the Consolidated Statements of Income associated with the fair value hedges of our fixed-rate long-term debt for the years ended December 31:


	Gains (losses)
(Millions)	2022		2021		2020
Fixed-rate long-term debt	$	473	$	385	$	(405)
Derivatives designated as hedging instruments	(476)		(385)		409
Total	$	(3)	$	—	$	4

The carrying values of the hedged liabilities, recorded within Long-term debt on the Consolidated Balance Sheets, were $7.8 billion and $13.1 billion as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively, including the cumulative amount of fair value hedging adjustments of $(236) million and $237 million for the respective periods.

We recognized in Interest expense on Long-term debt a net decrease of $57 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 and net decreases of $256 million for both the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020. These were primarily related to the net settlements including interest accruals on our interest rate derivatives designated as fair value hedges.

A net investment hedge is used to hedge future changes in currency exposure of a net investment in a foreign operation. We primarily designate foreign currency derivatives as net investment hedges to reduce our exposure to changes in currency exchange rates on our investments in non-U.S. subsidiaries. We had notional amounts of approximately $12.5 billion and $12.6 billion of foreign currency derivatives designated as net investment hedges as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. The gain or loss on net investment hedges, net of taxes, recorded in AOCI as part of the cumulative translation adjustment, were gains of $237 million and $176 million and losses of $253 million for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively. Net investment hedge reclassifications out of AOCI into the Consolidated Statements of Income were not significant for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

We have derivatives that act as economic hedges, but are not designated as such for hedge accounting purposes. Foreign currency transactions from time to time may be partially or fully economically hedged through foreign currency contracts, primarily foreign exchange forwards. These hedges generally mature within one year. Foreign currency contracts involve the purchase and sale of designated currencies at an agreed upon rate for settlement on a specified date.

The changes in the fair value of derivatives that are not designated as hedges are intended to offset the related foreign exchange gains or losses of the underlying foreign currency exposures. We had notional amounts of approximately $21.7 billion and $19.0 billion as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. The changes in the fair value of the derivatives and the related underlying foreign currency exposures resulted in a net gain of $8 million, a net loss of $21 million and a net gain of $10 million for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively, that are recognized in Other, net expenses in the Consolidated Statements of Income.

In 2022, we recorded an embedded derivative with a notional amount of $78 million, related to seller earnout shares granted to us upon the completion of a business combination between our equity method investee, Global Business Travel Group, and Apollo Strategic Growth Capital. This embedded derivative had a fair value of $27 million as of December 31, 2022. The changes in the fair value of the embedded derivative resulted in gains of $4 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, which were recognized in Service fees and other revenue in the Consolidated Statements of Income.