Fair Values (Details 2) (USD $)	Jun. 30, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010
Financial Liabilities:
Certificates of deposit	$ 10,000,000,000
Long Term Debt	61,395,000,000	66,416,000,000
Carrying Value [Member]
Financial Assets:
Assets for which carrying values equal or approximate fair value	68,000,000,000	61,000,000,000
Loans, net	57,000,000,000	58,000,000,000
Financial Liabilities:
Liabilities for which carrying values equal or approximate fair value	48,000,000,000	43,000,000,000
Certificates of deposit	10,000,000,000	13,000,000,000
Long Term Debt	61,000,000,000	66,000,000,000
Variable Interest Enterprise [Member] | Fair Value [Member]
Financial Liabilities:
Long Term Debt	18,400,000,000	23,600,000,000
Fair Values (Textuals) [Abstract]
Gross cardmember receivables available to settle the obligations of a variable interest entity	7,400,000,000	8,100,000,000
Gross cardmember loans available to settle the obligations of a variable interest entity	31,200,000,000	33,200,000,000
Fair Value [Member]
Financial Assets:
Assets for which carrying values equal or approximate fair value	68,000,000,000	61,000,000,000
Loans, net	57,000,000,000	58,000,000,000
Financial Liabilities:
Liabilities for which carrying values equal or approximate fair value	48,000,000,000	43,000,000,000
Certificates of deposit	10,000,000,000	13,000,000,000
Long Term Debt	64,000,000,000	69,000,000,000
Variable Interest Enterprise [Member]
Financial Liabilities:
Long Term Debt	18,113,000,000	23,341,000,000
Fair Values (Textuals) [Abstract]
Gross cardmember receivables available to settle the obligations of a variable interest entity	$ 7,500,000,000	$ 8,192,000,000