American Express National Bank

Is American Express Bank safe?

For savers, yes. American Express savings accounts, CDs and checking accounts are held at American Express National Bank, an FDIC-insuredDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary bank in Utah, and the company says about 92% of the money in those accounts sits within the $250,000 insurance limit. The group's CET1CET1 ratioA bank's highest-quality capital (mainly shares and retained profits) as a share of its risk-weighted assets. Higher means more room to absorb losses.More in the glossary capital ratio was 10.4% at 30 June 2026 against a 7.0% minimum, and its liquidity coverage ratioLiquidity coverage ratioA bank's cash and easy-to-sell assets compared with the money that could flow out in a 30-day crisis. It must be at least 100%.More in the glossary averaged 197%. We score it 76/100, five points above Capital One. The score is held back by conduct. In January 2025 it paid about $230 million over how it sold products to small businesses, and its 10-Q warns that it expects an enforcement action over its anti-money launderingAnti-money launderingThe rules and checks that stop criminals from moving illegal money through banks, payment firms and crypto exchanges.More in the glossary programmes.

Which part of American Express holds your money

American Express Company is the card and payments group. Its bank, American Express National Bank, is supervised by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and holds the deposits. The bank sells online-only products directly: a high-yield savings account, CDs, consumer checking and business checking. It also raises money through brokers, about $9.3 billion of brokered CDs and $14.3 billion of sweep deposits in June 2026.

FDICDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary cover is $250,000 per depositor, per ownership category. Individual, joint and retirement accounts are separate categories, so a couple can insure well over $250,000 at the one bank if they use the categories correctly. A card is different: a card is a credit product, so money you overpay onto it is not the same as savings.

American Express is not on the Financial Stability Board's list of global systemically important banksG-SIBA global systemically important bank: one of the large banks the Financial Stability Board lists each year because its failure could harm the world economy.More in the glossary. That does not change FDIC cover, which works the same at any insured bank.

Capital and liquidity

American Express runs its CET1 ratio deliberately in a 10–11% target range and returns the rest to shareholders, $2.9 billion in the second quarter alone. So the buffer is solid but not as wide as at banks that hold more spare capital. The leverage ratio is high because its assets are mostly card loans, which carry heavy risk weights.

Liquidity is the strong point. Most deposits are insured savings from households, the kind of money that tends to stay put in a panic, and the FDICDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary call report puts the uninsured share at about 18% of $171.6 billion, a wider measure than the $157.0 billion of customer deposits in the 10-Q. That is a much lower share than at big corporate banks such as JPMorgan Chase.

The conduct record

The largest recent case is about small business customers. In January 2025 American Express said it had reached agreements with the Department of Justice and an agreement in principle with Federal Reserve staff, paying about $230 million in total to resolve investigations into historical sales practices. It said the practices had stopped in 2021 or earlier and that it had dropped some products several years before.

Earlier cases were brought by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. In August 2017 the CFPB found that two American Express banks had for at least ten years given customers in Puerto Rico and other US territories worse rates, credit limits and debt collection terms than mainland customers, breaking fair lending law. The company had reported the problem itself and paid about $95 million in redress to 221,932 people, plus at least $1 million more under the order, with no penalty. In 2013 the CFPB, FDICDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary and OCC ordered $59.5 million in refunds and $16.2 million in penalties over deceptive add-on products.

The open matter is money laundering controls. The June 2026 10-Q says American Express has been engaging with regulators about parts of its anti-money launderingAnti-money launderingThe rules and checks that stop criminals from moving illegal money through banks, payment firms and crypto exchanges.More in the glossary programmes and expects to be subject to enforcement action, which could include civil money penalties.

How to keep your money safe at American Express

1. Keep each ownership category within $250,000, counting savings, CDs and checking together.
2. If you need more cover, add a joint or retirement account in your name, or open an account at a second FDIC-insuredDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary bank such as Ally.
3. Do not park large sums as a credit balance on a card; ask for a refund to your bank account.
4. Use the app's security alerts and log in only through the official app or site. Scammers often pose as the Amex fraud team; call the number on the back of your card if in doubt.

How we scored it

Liquidity (86) and deposit protectionDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary (85) are the strongest factors: a 197% liquidity coverage ratioLiquidity coverage ratioA bank's cash and easy-to-sell assets compared with the money that could flow out in a 30-day crisis. It must be at least 100%.More in the glossary and a deposit base that is mostly insured. Conduct (52) is the weakest, reflecting the 2025 sales practices settlement, earlier CFPB orders and an expected anti-money launderingAnti-money launderingThe rules and checks that stop criminals from moving illegal money through banks, payment firms and crypto exchanges.More in the glossary action. Capital (76) is solid but runs on a deliberately managed buffer.