American ExpressWalking cards members show few signs of braking their expenses, and younger customers have experienced growth in transactions in the first quarter, CNBC, financial director of the first quarter, told CNBC.
The activities billed on Amex cards increased by 6% during the period, or 7% when they are adjusted for the impact of the year of jump, reported the company on Thursday, which shows that the spending bump at the end of last year continued in 2025, according to CILLEC.
These trends continued in April, said the financial director, despite a sharp drop in shares this month, with regard to the concerns that President Donald Trump’s pricing policies will lead to a recession.
The dynamics, which helped Amex the best expectations for the benefit of the first quarter, shows that the richer customers of the company can help isolate it from concerns about prices and obstinate inflation. At the other end of the credit spectrum, Synchrony FinancialWho offers store cards for dozens of popular retailers, warned a slowdown in expenses.
“There is a lot of stability and strength, despite the news and the environment,” said Caillec.
Growth in Amex has come from young card holders, Millennial and Generation Z members spending 14% more during the quarter. Generation X and Baomer card holders have shown more caution, recording increases of 5% and 1% respectively.
Caillec said it was difficult to discern whether card members were making purchases forward due to the imminent prices, creating an artificial boost to buy volumes, as JPMorgan’s leaders led them last week. But some small businesses can do so to build stocks due to concerns about increasing costs, he added.
Airlines collapse
One category in particular has enabled Trusted Caillec that spending trends can be durable.
“Restaurant spending is up 8%,” said the financial director. “This is the ultimate discretionary expenditure, it is not something that you can move forward, and therefore it is really a good indicator of the strength of our cardboard base and the confidence they have.”
If there was a weak zone in addition to the slowdown in spending by older Americans, it was in air transactions, according to the presentation of the company’s profits. The category has increased only by 3%, or 4% when adjusted for the jump year, after climbing 13% in the fourth quarter.
But while the airlines, retailers and other companies have drawn their orientations on profits on tariff uncertainty, AMEX was firm.
It maintained its directives for income growth from 8% to 10% and a profit from $ 15 to $ 15.50 per share this year, Caillec said.
In the presentation of the company, however, he added a new warning to his advice: “subject to the macroeconomic environment”.