Loans and Accounts Receivable (Details 2) - USD ($) $ in Millions	Mar. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
U S Consumer Services [Member] | Card Member Loans [Member] | Financing Receivables Period Past Due [Domain]
Accounts Receivables [Line Items]
Current	$ 51,922	$ 52,961
Total aging	52,655	53,668
U S Consumer Services [Member] | Card Member Loans [Member]
Accounts Receivables [Line Items]
Past Due	201	201
U S Consumer Services [Member] | Card Member Loans [Member] | Financing Receivables 60 To 89 Days Past Due [Member]
Accounts Receivables [Line Items]
Past Due	156	162
U S Consumer Services [Member] | Card Member Loans [Member] | Financing Receivables Equal To Greater Than 90 Days Past Due [Member]
Accounts Receivables [Line Items]
Past Due	376	344
U S Consumer Services [Member] | Card Member Receivables [Member] | Financing Receivables Period Past Due [Domain]
Accounts Receivables [Line Items]
Current	11,510	12,993
Total aging	11,659	13,143
U S Consumer Services [Member] | Card Member Receivables [Member]
Accounts Receivables [Line Items]
Past Due	48	53
U S Consumer Services [Member] | Card Member Receivables [Member] | Financing Receivables 60 To 89 Days Past Due [Member]
Accounts Receivables [Line Items]
Past Due	35	33
U S Consumer Services [Member] | Card Member Receivables [Member] | Financing Receivables Equal To Greater Than 90 Days Past Due [Member]
Accounts Receivables [Line Items]
Past Due	66	64
International Consumer and Network Services [Member] | Card Member Loans [Member] | Financing Receivables Period Past Due [Domain]
Accounts Receivables [Line Items]
Current	8,524	8,530
Total aging	8,667	8,651
International Consumer and Network Services [Member] | Card Member Loans [Member]
Accounts Receivables [Line Items]
Past Due	46	37
International Consumer and Network Services [Member] | Card Member Loans [Member] | Financing Receivables 60 To 89 Days Past Due [Member]
Accounts Receivables [Line Items]
Past Due	31	28
International Consumer and Network Services [Member] | Card Member Loans [Member] | Financing Receivables Equal To Greater Than 90 Days Past Due [Member]
Accounts Receivables [Line Items]
Past Due	66	56
International Consumer and Network Services [Member] | Card Member Receivables [Member] | Financing Receivables Period Past Due [Domain]
Accounts Receivables [Line Items]
Current	6,967	7,703
Total aging	7,071	7,803
International Consumer and Network Services [Member] | Card Member Receivables [Member]
Accounts Receivables [Line Items]
Past Due	33	29
International Consumer and Network Services [Member] | Card Member Receivables [Member] | Financing Receivables 60 To 89 Days Past Due [Member]
Accounts Receivables [Line Items]
Past Due	22	21
International Consumer and Network Services [Member] | Card Member Receivables [Member] | Financing Receivables Equal To Greater Than 90 Days Past Due [Member]
Accounts Receivables [Line Items]
Past Due	49	50
Global Small Business Services [Member] | Card Member Loans [Member] | Financing Receivables Period Past Due [Domain]
Accounts Receivables [Line Items]
Current	11,278	10,892
Total aging	11,427	11,025
Global Small Business Services [Member] | Card Member Loans [Member]
Accounts Receivables [Line Items]
Past Due	45	43
Global Small Business Services [Member] | Card Member Loans [Member] | Financing Receivables 60 To 89 Days Past Due [Member]
Accounts Receivables [Line Items]
Past Due	33	31
Global Small Business Services [Member] | Card Member Loans [Member] | Financing Receivables Equal To Greater Than 90 Days Past Due [Member]
Accounts Receivables [Line Items]
Past Due	71	59
Global Small Business Services [Member] | Card Member Receivables [Member] | Financing Receivables Period Past Due [Domain]
Accounts Receivables [Line Items]
Current	15,931	15,868
Total aging	16,218	16,119
Global Small Business Services [Member] | Card Member Receivables [Member]
Accounts Receivables [Line Items]
Past Due	93	91
Global Small Business Services [Member] | Card Member Receivables [Member] | Financing Receivables 60 To 89 Days Past Due [Member]
Accounts Receivables [Line Items]
Past Due	68	54
Global Small Business Services [Member] | Card Member Receivables [Member] | Financing Receivables Equal To Greater Than 90 Days Past Due [Member]
Accounts Receivables [Line Items]
Past Due	126	106
Global Corporate Payments [Member] | Card Member Loans [Member] | Financing Receivables Period Past Due [Domain]
Accounts Receivables [Line Items]
Total aging	71	55
Global Corporate Payments [Member] | Card Member Loans [Member] | Financing Receivables Equal To Greater Than 90 Days Past Due [Member]
Accounts Receivables [Line Items]
Past Due	1	0
Global Corporate Payments [Member] | Card Member Receivables [Member] | Financing Receivables Period Past Due [Domain]
Accounts Receivables [Line Items]
Total aging	19,293	16,982
Global Corporate Payments [Member] | Card Member Receivables [Member] | Financing Receivables Equal To Greater Than 90 Days Past Due [Member]
Accounts Receivables [Line Items]
Past Due	$ 163	$ 148