American Express Middle East

What American Express Middle East does

American Express Middle East operates as AMEX (Middle East) B.S.C. (C), a Bahrain-incorporated regional subsidiary of American Express Company (NYSE: AXP). The entity serves the UAE market under the americanexpress.ae domain, offering personal credit cards (including The Platinum Card and Virtual Card), corporate cards, and TMC Solutions for business travel management. Supporting features include the Membership Rewards points programme, Plan It installments, contactless NFC payments, SafeKey 3-D Secure authentication, Amex Offers merchant discounts, Amex Experiences events, and the AMEX MENA App for iOS and Android.

The underlying technology stack combines conventional card payment processing with NFC contactless capability, a proprietary mobile banking app, and the SafeKey fraud-protection authentication layer. The portfolio functions as a platform: card products serve as the foundation, augmented by loyalty, security, and merchant-engagement modules that increase switching costs and ecosystem lock-in for cardmembers.

The company monetises through four primary streams: interchange transaction fees on merchant payments, recurring annual/membership fees on personal and corporate cards, Amex Offers co-branded promotional fees from merchants, and corporate card services including TMC integrations. Go-to-market combines direct-to-consumer acquisition (website and mobile app applications) with enterprise field sales for corporate accounts. Primary customer segments are individual consumers and business/corporate clients, with merchants forming a secondary segment. The legal entity holds a portfolio of registered trademarks in the UAE covering core brand assets (AMERICAN EXPRESS, CENTURION, PLATINUM) and product marks (Membership Rewards, SafeKey, Plan It). Revenue, headcount, and financial figures for the regional entity are not publicly disclosed.

Name

American Express Middle East

Legal name

AMEX (Middle East) B.S.C. (C)

Website

https://americanexpress.ae

Company type

Private

Founded year

1977

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

American Express Middle East (AMEX (Middle East) B.S.C. (C)) is a Bahrain-incorporated regional subsidiary of American Express Company, issuing personal and corporate credit cards, corporate travel solutions, and merchant services across the UAE under the americanexpress.ae domain.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Credit Card Services

NAICS

Credit Card Issuing (522210)

akta.pro primary industry

International / Global Card Schemes (FSAMAAAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Commercial & Corporate Card Schemes (FSAMAAAF), Co-Branded Card & Card-Linked Offers Enablement (Issuer/Network Integrations) (THALAKAI)

Keywords

• Credit card services
• Payment processing
• Corporate cards
• Rewards program
• Merchant services

Headquarters

HQ city

Manama

HQ country

Bahrain

HQ region

Middle East

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Credit Card Transaction Fees: American Express charges merchants a percentage fee for each transaction processed on its network. As a charge card and credit card issuer, Amex earns interchange fees from merchants on every card payment.
2. Annual/Membership Fees: Cardmembers pay annual fees for premium card products like The Platinum Card and other credit card offerings, generating recurring revenue from card memberships.
3. Amex Offers: Co-branded promotional offers with merchants where American Express earns fees from participating merchants for exclusive cardmember deals and discounts.
4. Corporate Card Services: Business payment solutions including corporate cards, expense management, and TMC solutions generating fees from corporate clients.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

American Express Middle East issues and distributes American Express-branded personal and corporate charge and credit cards in the Middle East (primarily UAE), along with merchant payment acceptance services. The company operates the Membership Rewards® loyalty programme, a corporate card expense management solution, TMC (Travel Management Company) solutions, and supporting digital tools including the AMEX MENA mobile app, Virtual Card, contactless payments, SafeKey® authentication, and Plan It® installments.

Product overview

American Express Middle East operates as a financial services company offering a comprehensive suite of credit and charge card products across personal and corporate segments. The core offering consists of personal Credit Cards (including The Platinum Card as a premium tier and Virtual Card as a digital option) and Corporate Cards for business use. These are supported by the Membership Rewards Program as the primary loyalty mechanism. The portfolio includes supplementary services such as Plan It (installment payments), Amex Offers (merchant discounts), Amex Experiences (event access), and SafeKey (secure authentication). The company provides an AMEX MENA App for mobile account management and offers TMC Solutions for travel management integration with corporate cards. The architecture functions as a platform-based model where the card products serve as the foundation, augmented by add-on features and services that enhance value for cardmembers and merchant partners.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Personal Credit Cards

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Visa: Global card network operating across consumer, commercial, and merchant acceptance — directly competing with Amex for cardmember share and merchant volume, including in MENA. Both are open-loop international card schemes; Amex uniquely also issues, but their products compete head-to-head for the same wallets and merchants.
• Mastercard: Global card network with strong MENA presence across personal, corporate, and merchant solutions. Competes directly with Amex on acceptance breadth, co-branded partnerships, and corporate-card programs, and also issues cards via partner banks.
• First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB): UAE's largest bank, issuing personal and corporate credit cards with rewards programs, travel benefits, and merchant services. Competes directly with Amex on premium UAE cardholders and corporate expense management.
• Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB): UAE bank offering personal credit cards and corporate card programs with rewards, travel, and lifestyle benefits. A regional direct competitor on both consumer and corporate card value propositions.
• Mashreq: UAE-headquartered bank with a strong credit-card portfolio targeting affluent consumers and corporate clients, including premium rewards cards. Operates in the same MENA card-issuing and merchant-acquiring segments.
• Emirates NBD: Leading UAE bank issuing a full suite of personal credit cards and corporate cards, including premium tiers with travel and lifestyle benefits. A directly comparable regional card issuer competing for the same UAE consumer and corporate wallet share.
• HSBC Middle East: Major MENA retail and commercial bank offering credit cards, corporate cards, and TMC-adjacent services. Targets similar affluent consumer and corporate segments in UAE, competing on rewards, travel benefits, and expense management.
• Citibank (MENA): Issuer of premium credit cards and corporate cards in the UAE and broader MENA. Directly comparable to Amex Middle East on personal-card rewards, travel benefits, and corporate-card expense management offerings in the same market.

Broad incumbents

• Stripe: Global payments infrastructure provider supporting online merchants that accept Amex and other card networks across MENA. While not a card issuer, Stripe's merchant-acquiring and payments-platform capabilities intersect with Amex's merchant services business and shape competitive dynamics for card acceptance.

Emerging players

• Tabby: MENA-headquartered BNPL and consumer payments platform gaining share in online and in-store payments. While not a direct credit-card peer, it competes for the same cardmember wallet — particularly for everyday and installment-based spending — pressuring Amex's transaction-frequency advantage in MENA.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/amexmena
• Facebookfacebook.com/AmericanExpressME
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/americanexpressme

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about American Express Middle East