Amex Enhances Card Capabilities With Center Acquisition

American Express Company AXP recently announced its agreement to acquire Center, a leading expense management software company. The acquisition, expected to close by the second quarter of 2025, is aimed at creating a seamless, integrated platform that combines card payments with advanced expense management solutions. This move is aimed at enhancing its corporate and small business card offerings.

This move bodes well for American Express as by incorporating Center’s innovative expense management technology, it can offer businesses a more efficient and automated process for tracking and reconciling expenses. The integration will provide visibility into employee spending, reduce manual accounting tasks, and simplify expense reporting, boosting operational efficiency for businesses. Moreover, finance teams are likely to experience substantial time savings, allowing them to focus on more strategic financial planning.

For American Express, this acquisition is also a key opportunity to drive higher card usage and transaction volumes. Offering an all-in-one solution that combines expense management with premium corporate cards is expected to increase customer retention and boost card spending. Additionally, businesses will benefit from enhanced policy compliance, automated auditing, and maximized card rewards, further strengthening the appeal of AXP’s commercial card program.

The move reflects American Express’ sincere efforts to sustain the lucrativeness of its card offerings, which may retain existing card members or attract new ones.

With the card-issuing business remaining an important revenue source for American Express, the latest move is expected to contribute to its top-line growth. Management remains confident in achieving long-term revenue growth of 10%.

AXP’s Share Price Performance & Zacks Rank

Shares of American Express have gained 24.1% in the past year compared with the industry’s 0.2% growth. AXP currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

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Stocks to Consider

Investors interested in the broader Finance space may look at some other top-ranked players like ProAssurance Corporation PRA, Enova International, Inc. ENVA and Jackson Financial Inc. JXN. ProAssurance currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), while Enova International and Jackson Financial carry a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ProAssurance’s current-year earnings is pegged at 91 cents. In the past two months, PRA has witnessed two upward estimate revisions against none in the opposite direction. The consensus mark for current-year revenues is pegged at $1.1 billion. The company beat earnings estimates in the past four quarters, with an average surprise of 152.7%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Enova International’s current-year earnings is pegged at $11.33 per share, which indicates 23.8% year-over-year growth. It has witnessed three upward estimate revisions in the past 60 days against no downward movement. The consensus mark for ENVA’s current-year revenues suggests 16.1% year-over-year growth.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Jackson Financial’s 2025 earnings indicates 11% year-over-year growth. In the past two months, JXN has witnessed two upward estimate revisions against none in the opposite direction. It beat earnings estimates in two of the past four quarters and missed twice, with an average surprise of 8.9%.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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