Card Member Receivables and Card Member Loans 3 (Details)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019
Global Consumer Services Group [Member] | Card Member Receivables [Member] | Net Write-Off Rate [Member]
Credit Quality Indicator for Receivables and Loans
Credit quality indicators	1.51%	1.10%
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	0.83%	0.82%
Global Consumer Services Group [Member] | Card Member Loans [Member] | Net Write-Off Rate [Member]
Credit Quality Indicator for Receivables and Loans
Credit quality indicators	2.81%	1.53%
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	1.40%	1.15%
Global Small Business Services [Member] | Card Member Receivables [Member] | Net Write-Off Rate [Member]
Credit Quality Indicator for Receivables and Loans
Credit quality indicators	1.84%	1.39%
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	0.95%	1.19%
Global Corporate Payments [Member] | Card Member Receivables [Member] | Net Write-Off Rate [Member]
Credit Quality Indicator for Receivables and Loans
Credit quality indicators	1.25%
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%
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	0.36%	0.77%