Loans and Accounts Receivable (Details 5) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2017
Financing Receivable Impaired [Line Items]
Average balance of impaired loans	$ 1,147	$ 881	$ 1,086	$ 862
Interest income recognized	32	26	95	74
Global Consumer Services Group [Member] \| Card Member Loans [Member]
Financing Receivable Impaired [Line Items]
Average balance of impaired loans	882	695	841	682
Interest income recognized	27	21	79	61
Global Consumer Services Group [Member] \| Card Member Receivables [Member]
Financing Receivable Impaired [Line Items]
Average balance of impaired loans	35	20	31	19
Interest income recognized	0	0	0	0
Global Commercial Services [Member] \| Card Member Loans [Member]
Financing Receivable Impaired [Line Items]
Average balance of impaired loans	153	122	144	119
Interest income recognized	5	5	16	13
Global Commercial Services [Member] \| Card Member Receivables [Member]
Financing Receivable Impaired [Line Items]
Average balance of impaired loans	77	44	70	42
Interest income recognized	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancingReceivableImpairedLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Average amount of investment of impaired financing receivables with related allowance for credit losses and without a related allowance for credit losses.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 310
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 15
-Subparagraph (c)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84173941&loc=d3e5212-111524

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 310
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 17
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84173941&loc=d3e5258-111524

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ImpairedFinancingReceivableAverageRecordedInvestment
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of interest income recognized that the financing receivables (with related allowance for credit losses and without a related allowance for credit losses) were impaired.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ImpairedFinancingReceivableInterestIncomeAccrualMethod
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=axp_GlobalConsumerServicesGroupMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancingReceivableRecordedInvestmentByClassOfFinancingReceivableAxis=axp_CardmemberLoansMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancingReceivableRecordedInvestmentByClassOfFinancingReceivableAxis=axp_CardmemberReceivablesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=axp_GlobalCommercialServicesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: