Loans and Card Member Receivables (Details 1) - USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019
Accounts receivable segment information
Card Member receivables	$ 40,811,000,000	$ 57,413,000,000
Less: Reserve for credit losses	422,000,000	619,000,000
Card Member receivables, net	40,389,000,000	56,794,000,000
Variable Interest Entity, Primary Beneficiary [Member]
Accounts receivable segment information
Card Member receivables	4,247,000,000	8,284,000,000
Global Consumer Services Group [Member]
Accounts receivable segment information
Card Member receivables	16,093,000,000	22,844,000,000
Global Consumer Services Group [Member] | Variable Interest Entity, Primary Beneficiary [Member]
Accounts receivable segment information
Card Member receivables	0	8,300,000,000
Global Commercial Services [Member]
Accounts receivable segment information
Card Member receivables	24,718,000,000	34,569,000,000
Global Commercial Services [Member] | Variable Interest Entity, Primary Beneficiary [Member]
Accounts receivable segment information
Card Member receivables	$ 4,200,000,000	$ 0