The news: American Express net income rose 15% YoY to $2.971 billion, per the company’s Q1 2026 earnings.

CEO Stephan Squeri credited the strength of Platinum and commercial cardholder spend for growth over the quarter. 

Diving into the results: Amex’s card strategies are working. Platinum marketing is connecting with Gen Zers and millennials, and engagement with the company’s membership model—Resy, Amex Travel, Fine Hotels + Resorts, The Hotel Collection—is up across the board.

• 66% of global consumer acquisitions were millennials and Gen Zers—and 73% of all new accounts were on fee-paying products.
• Net card fees grew to $2.8 billion, jumping $600 million from the previous year.
• US Gen Zers’ and millennials’ billed business increased 38% and 13% YoY, respectively, accounting for well over one-third of all US billings.
• Platinum spend growth increased roughly 6 percentage points YoY.
• And Amex’s spend growth rates across its proprietary booking platforms far outstripped its total travel and restaurant spend—its hotel collection grew 10 times as fast as the rest of Amex’s lodging spend.

Why this matters: American Express poured $6.3 billion into marketing last year, spooking investors. However, the premium card’s performance signals that the money was well spent. 

CFO Christophe le Caillec noted that “the majority of that 6% lift [in Platinum spend] is coming from the back book,” per the earnings call, suggesting tenured cardholders are highly engaged in Amex’s particular value for their lifestyles. 

In other words, the $895 annual fee isn’t scaring off members; it’s cementing Amex’s place at the top of members’ wallets and drawing in young adults by the prestige and perceived value of the Platinum perks. 

Squeri expects younger consumers to deepen their brand loyalty over time. Millennial cardholders gave Amex a high share of wallet immediately upon opening their accounts and have ramped up spending as their careers and wealth profiles matured. 

Squeri also pointed to roughly half of HYSA owners being Gen Zers and millennials as proof that this “cream of the crop” cohort profile has savings, or implied economic resiliency to AI job market disruptions, underscoring that Amex’s base is “not just white-collar workers … [it’s] premium consumer and premium small businesses that, from a consumer perspective, want access to experiences, services, and special offers.” 

Implications for payment providers: As millennials and Gen Zers further mature into their careers, payment players need to be ready to assist these younger adults through new life stages as they also angle to capture their more robust spending over time. 

Making tie-in payment products for family units, neighborhood-, renter-, or homeowners-centric perks central to aging cardholder features and rewards can secure loyalty for legacy issuers—or represent an opportunity for fintechs to pounce where they miss for new acquisitions.