Card Member Receivables and Card Member Loans 3 (Details)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018
Global Consumer Services Group [Member] | Card Member Receivables [Member] | Net Write-Off Rate [Member]
Credit Quality Indicator for Receivables and Loans
Credit quality indicators	1.10%	1.14%
Global Consumer Services Group [Member] | Card Member Receivables [Member] | 30+ Days Past Due as a % of Total [Member]
Credit Quality Indicator for Receivables and Loans
Credit quality indicators	0.82%	0.62%
Global Consumer Services Group [Member] | Card Member Loans [Member] | Net Write-Off Rate [Member]
Credit Quality Indicator for Receivables and Loans
Credit quality indicators	1.53%	1.03%
Global Consumer Services Group [Member] | Card Member Loans [Member] | 30+ Days Past Due as a % of Total [Member]
Credit Quality Indicator for Receivables and Loans
Credit quality indicators	1.15%	0.78%
Global Small Business Services [Member] | Card Member Receivables [Member] | Net Write-Off Rate [Member]
Credit Quality Indicator for Receivables and Loans
Credit quality indicators	1.39%	1.34%
Global Small Business Services [Member] | Card Member Receivables [Member] | 30+ Days Past Due as a % of Total [Member]
Credit Quality Indicator for Receivables and Loans
Credit quality indicators	1.19%	1.00%
Global Corporate Payments [Member] | Card Member Receivables [Member] | Net Loss Ratio as a % of Charge Volume [Member]
Credit Quality Indicator for Receivables and Loans
Credit quality indicators	0.06%	0.08%
Global Corporate Payments [Member] | Card Member Receivables [Member] | 90+ days past billing as a percentage of receivables [Member]
Credit Quality Indicator for Receivables and Loans
Credit quality indicators	0.77%	0.72%