American Express 8-K

Summary

Monthly U.S. Consumer and U.S. Small Business card credit statistics. August delinquency rates were steady versus July; principal-only write-off rates were unchanged for consumers and lower for small businesses. Card balances held for sale are excluded.

Key Figures

• U.S. Consumer: August card balances held for investment $114.2B; 30+ days delinquent 1.1%; average balances $113.7B; principal-only net write-off rate 1.7%. July: $113.1B, 1.1%, $113.5B and 1.7%, respectively.
• U.S. Small Business: August card balances held for investment $46.1B; 30+ days delinquent 1.3%; average balances $46.1B; principal-only net write-off rate 2.2%. July: $46.1B, 1.3%, $46.0B and 2.6%, respectively.
• Total U.S. Consumer and Small Business card balances held for investment were $160.3B in August vs $159.2B in July.
• In June, sales of previously written-off balances reduced the reported principal-only net write-off rates by ≈0.3 percentage points for U.S. Consumer and 0.1 percentage points for U.S. Small Business.
• American Express Credit Account Master Trust: August ending principal balance $25.0B, defaulted amount $0.04B, annualized default rate net of recoveries 1.0%, and 30+ days delinquent $0.2B. July rates were 1.1%; June’s rate was 0.7% and reflected proceeds from the sale of previously written-off balances allocable to the Trust. Trust data cover securitized, revolve-eligible balances and differ in scope and calculation from the total card portfolios.

Investor Takeaways

• Subsequent monthly delinquency and write-off rates will show whether August’s stable delinquency and lower small-business write-off rate persist.