American Express card balances rose to $157.2 billion in April 2026 as consumer write-offs edged up
American Express furnished April 2026 delinquency and write-off statistics for its U.S. Consumer and U.S. Small Business Card balances held for investment, which totaled $157.2 billion at April 30, 2026. The filing also reflects a presentation change that combines Card Member loans and receivables into a single Card balances line, so figures are not directly comparable with prior disclosures without the 10-Q explanation. For shareholders, the filing offers an updated view of card credit trends, with consumer write-offs higher and past-due rates slightly lower than in March.
Key points
- Total held-for-investment Card balances were $157.2 billion at April 30, 2026, up from $156.0 billion at March 31 and $151.3 billion at February 28, 2026.
- U.S. Consumer net write-off rate (principal only) was 2.1% in April, compared with 2.0% in March and 1.9% in February.
- U.S. Consumer 30-day past-due rate was 1.2% in April, down from 1.3% in March; U.S. Small Business was 1.5%, down from 1.6%.
- U.S. Small Business net write-off rate was 2.4% in April, down from 2.6% in March and 2.5% in February.
The filing
Written by AI (Anthropic Claude, claude-haiku-5-5) on Nov 8, 2026, 2:16 AM ET, from the text of the filing and its press-release exhibits only. Written later: this filing was briefed after the fact, when past filings were added to the site, so the brief may be read with hindsight; the filing itself is the record of what was known on May 15, 2026.
Briefs are written by AI from the filing text (each brief's own page names the model) and can contain mistakes — open the filing before acting on anything. Impact (1-5) and tone are the model's reading of the filing for shareholders, not a price forecast. Not investment advice.