American Express

Unlike Visa and Mastercard, American Express both issues its own cards and runs the network they ride on, a closed loop that lets it see the full transaction and charge merchants higher fees. That model works because its cardholders skew affluent and spend heavily, so stores accept the cost to reach them. The company dates to 1850, when it began as an express freight and money-order business, and it still earns a large share of revenue from annual fees on premium products like the Platinum and Gold cards, alongside the merchant charge on spending. Because it lends to and earns from a wealthier customer base, American Express tends to hold up better than mass-market card issuers when credit conditions worsen. Rewards, airport lounges, and travel perks are the cost of keeping those customers loyal, and courting younger high earners is the current growth push.

On MyRWA, AXP trades tokenized across 6 on-chain venues - see the listings below.