CFPB Consumer Complaint Profile
American Express Company
What 53,944 consumer complaints filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reveal about how this company handles credit, billing and collection disputes.
Data updated 2026-08-14
- 53,944
- Total complaints
- Among the highest
- 10,403
- Last 12 months
- 99.7%
- Timely response
- Top decile
- 59
- States affected
The verdict
American Express Company ranks #14 of 3,843 financial companies by CFPB complaint volume, with 53,944 complaints on record. Its on-time response rate is 99.7%, the 76th percentile among companies with 100+ complaints.
- #14
- of 3,843 companies by volume
- 99.7%
- on time (76th pctile)
- Credit card or prepa…
- most-complained product
- 59
- states with complaints
Based on this company's own CFPB response record -- timely response, dispute rate, and relief rate, each benchmarked against every tracked company with 10+ complaints. Not a measure of product quality, pricing, or company size.
American Express Company vs. all companies by on-time response rate
Every company with 100+ CFPB complaints on file (1,335 total)
99.7% Top 24% higher than 76% of 1,335 companies
companies with 100+ CFPB complaints, bucketed by value
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more companies. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Consumer Complaint Database · 2026-08-14
What changed
CFPB Consumer Complaint Database 2024 to 2025 complete years
- Annual CFPB complaint volume moved from 8,920 in 2024 to 10,559 in 2025 (2024 → 2025).
Percent of CFPB complaints answered within the regulator's expected window. Industry benchmark sits at 95%.
Reading this profile
Complaints by Product
Top Issues
Complaints by Year
| Year | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 2011 | 61 |
| 2012 | 939 |
| 2013 | 1,113 |
| 2014 | 1,385 |
| 2015 | 1,683 |
| 2016 | 2,375 |
| 2017 | 2,363 |
| 2018 | 2,859 |
| 2019 | 2,826 |
| 2020 | 3,172 |
| 2021 | 3,330 |
| 2022 | 3,929 |
| 2023 | 6,116 |
| 2024 | 8,920 |
| 2025 | 10,559 |
| 2026year in progress | 2,314 |
Complaints by State (Top 15)
Company Responses
American Express Company Complaint Concentration Profile
American Express Company is a high-volume CFPB cohort (53,944 complaints) - enough filings to measure how concentrated the product and issue mix is, not just the headline totals. Across 87 named product lines in the stored breakdown, the leading three (Credit card or prepaid card, Credit card, Credit card) hold a 54.8% share of product-tagged complaints. The Herfindahl index on that product mix is 0.132 (1.0 = a single product owns every tagged complaint; lower = a broader book).
On the issue side, 15 named issues appear in the top list; the leading three (Problem with a purchase shown on your statement, Incorrect information on your report, Trouble using the card) cover a 38.1% share of those mentions. That multi-issue footprint is the profile thin-volume companies cannot show - their pages stop at a short bar list because the sample cannot support a concentration read.
Geography tells a similar story: the top three states (California, New York, Florida) hold a 36.0% share of state-tagged volume across 59 jurisdictions on file. A concentrated state trio can hint at regional servicing stress; a flatter map usually tracks a nationwide book.
Among coded company responses, "Closed with explanation" leads at a 68.7% share among the 53,944 response-tagged complaints (37,041 filings). Read that mix next to the timely-response and relief rates above - both describe process outcomes, not a finding of wrongdoing.
Peak filing year was 2025 (10,559 complaints); the lightest year on file was 2011 (61). From 2024 to 2025, annual volume rose 18.4% (8,920 → 10,559). Year-to-year swings at this volume usually track product launches, servicing changes, and consumer awareness more than a single-event spike.
What the CFPB Complaint Record Shows for American Express Company
American Express Company carries 53,944 complaints in the CFPB's database, 10,403 of them filed within the past 12 months. Consumers spanning 59 states and territories have weighed in, giving this a nationwide footprint. The single largest complaint category is "Credit card or prepaid card," which consistently leads the product-level breakdown and signals where consumer friction is most acute. Within that category, the most frequently cited specific issue is "Problem with a purchase shown on your statement" - a useful starting point for anyone trying to understand what goes wrong most often in the company's consumer interactions.
CFPB-forwarded complaints against American Express Company draw a 99.7% reply rate inside the Bureau's 15-day window. That is at or above benchmark levels, a sign the company handles intake and escalation well. Resolved cases drew a formal consumer-dispute rate of 27.2% - a rough measure of how often the first resolution missed the mark. Resolved complaints closed with monetary or non-monetary relief for the consumer at a 29.5% rate.
How to read complaint counts
Complaint counts alone do not tell the full story: larger institutions with more customers will naturally generate more complaints in absolute terms. The more informative signals are the direction of the yearly trend shown above, the state-level concentration, and the ratio of monetary-relief closures to closed-without-relief outcomes. Together, these fields provide context for reading the published CFPB record; they do not establish wrongdoing or resolve an individual dispute.
Educational data summary, not financial or legal advice. Individual complaint outcomes vary. Consumers should consult a qualified attorney or financial advisor for guidance on a specific dispute.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many CFPB complaints does American Express Company have?
American Express Company has 53,944 total consumer complaints filed with the CFPB, with 10,403 filed in the last 12 months.
Does American Express Company respond to complaints on time?
American Express Company has a 99.7% timely response rate to CFPB complaints. That is a strong response record by CFPB standards.
What product generates the most complaints for American Express Company?
The most complained-about product for American Express Company is "Credit card or prepaid card." You can view the full product breakdown on this page.
What is the most common complaint issue with American Express Company?
The most common issue reported by consumers about American Express Company is "Problem with a purchase shown on your statement." All complaint issues are listed above with their counts.
How do I file a complaint against American Express Company?
You can file a complaint against American Express Company directly with the CFPB at consumerfinance.gov/complaint. The CFPB will forward your complaint to the company and work to get you a response, typically within 15 days.
In how many states have consumers complained about American Express Company?
Consumers in 59 states and territories have filed complaints about American Express Company with the CFPB. This count includes the 50 states, DC, Puerto Rico, and smaller CFPB-tracked jurisdictions such as Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and military postal codes (APO/FPO), which is why it can exceed the 52 states and territories that have a dedicated state page on this site.
Nationwide companies with similar complaint volume or dispute rates
Two CFPB peer sets for American Express Company: nearest financial companies by total complaint volume and by the share of complaints consumers mark as disputed. These are cross-firm neighborhoods, not the product-category list below.
Similar complaint volume
Nearest companies by total CFPB complaint count (53,944 here).
Similar dispute rates
Nearest companies by share of complaints marked disputed (27.2% here).
Also handles Credit card or prepaid card
Other companies with the same primary CFPB product category on file.
Source: CFPB Consumer Complaint Database Data through March 2026
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.