American Express Credit Metrics Show Stable Delinquencies as Write-offs Edge Higher
The credit card giant's July data reveals steady consumer delinquency rates at 1.1% while write-off rates climb to 2.0% following a June portfolio sale.
Credit Performance Holds Steady
American Express Company disclosed its monthly credit performance statistics for July 2026, revealing stable delinquency rates across its U.S. consumer and small business card portfolios even as write-off rates showed some variability following a portfolio sale.
The company's U.S. Consumer Services portfolio, which held $113.8 billion in card balances at the end of July, maintained a 30-day past due delinquency rate of 1.1%, unchanged from June (8-K filing, 2026-08-17). However, the net write-off rate for this segment increased to 2.0% in July from 1.4% in June.
Portfolio Sale Distorts June Metrics
The June write-off figures require careful interpretation due to a one-time transaction. During June 2026, American Express sold certain previously written-off card balances to a third party, which artificially reduced the reported write-off rates by approximately 0.3% for the U.S. Consumer portfolio and 0.1% for the U.S. Small Business portfolio (8-K filing, 2026-08-17).
Without this sale, the underlying write-off trends would have shown less monthly volatility, suggesting a more gradual deterioration in credit performance rather than the sharp sequential increase apparent in the raw July data.
Small Business Segment Shows Similar Patterns
The U.S. Small Business portfolio, comprising $46.3 billion in card balances as of July 31, posted a delinquency rate of 1.4%, flat with the prior month (8-K filing, 2026-08-17). The write-off rate for this segment stood at 2.6% in July, up from 2.3% in June, though again the June figure benefited from the portfolio sale proceeds.
Combined, the company's total U.S. consumer and small business card balances held for investment totaled $159.7 billion as of July 31, down slightly from $160.5 billion at the end of June.
Lending Trust Performance
The American Express Credit Account Master Trust, which securitizes a subset of the company's revolve-eligible balances, reported an ending principal balance of $24.9 billion as of July 31 (8-K filing, 2026-08-17). The trust's annualized default rate, net of recoveries, came in at 1.1% for July, up from 0.7% in June, though the June figure also reflected the benefit of the portfolio sale.
The company noted that statistics for any particular monthly period "may be subject to variability due to a number of factors, including the number of days in a month, timing of holidays and weekends, seasonality and the timing of information received from third parties" (8-K filing, 2026-08-17).
Looking Ahead
According to MarginX data, American Express is scheduled to present at the Barclays 24th Annual Global Financial Services Conference on September 16, 2026, which may provide additional context on credit trends. The company's third-quarter earnings are expected on October 23, 2026.
Recent insider activity shows awards granted to executives Lisa W. Wardell (112.262 shares), Michael J. Angelakis (54.26 shares), and Deborah P. Majoras (54.26 shares), according to MarginX data.
This article was generated by MarginX from the 8-K filing on 2026-08-17. It is not investment advice.