XML 125 R144.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v2.4.1.9

Quarterly Financial Data (Details Textuals) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended			3 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2014	Sep. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Sep. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2013	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2012
Quarterly Financial Data (Textuals) [Abstract]
Earnings allocated to participating share awards	$ 11us-gaap_AmountOfDilutiveSecuritiesStockOptionsAndRestrictiveStockUnits	$ 11us-gaap_AmountOfDilutiveSecuritiesStockOptionsAndRestrictiveStockUnits	$ 12us-gaap_AmountOfDilutiveSecuritiesStockOptionsAndRestrictiveStockUnits	$ 12us-gaap_AmountOfDilutiveSecuritiesStockOptionsAndRestrictiveStockUnits	$ 11us-gaap_AmountOfDilutiveSecuritiesStockOptionsAndRestrictiveStockUnits	$ 12us-gaap_AmountOfDilutiveSecuritiesStockOptionsAndRestrictiveStockUnits	$ 13us-gaap_AmountOfDilutiveSecuritiesStockOptionsAndRestrictiveStockUnits	$ 11us-gaap_AmountOfDilutiveSecuritiesStockOptionsAndRestrictiveStockUnits	$ 46us-gaap_AmountOfDilutiveSecuritiesStockOptionsAndRestrictiveStockUnits	$ 47us-gaap_AmountOfDilutiveSecuritiesStockOptionsAndRestrictiveStockUnits	$ 49us-gaap_AmountOfDilutiveSecuritiesStockOptionsAndRestrictiveStockUnits
Periods in the prior year [Member]
Statement [Line Items]
Card Member reimbursements												0axp_CardMemberReimbursements / axp_ErrorCorrectionAndPriorPeriodAdjustmentsRestatementByRestatementPeriodAndAmountAxis = axp_CurrentYearErrorsMember
Periods prior to the prior year [Member]
Statement [Line Items]
Card Member reimbursements												$ 0axp_CardMemberReimbursements / axp_ErrorCorrectionAndPriorPeriodAdjustmentsRestatementByRestatementPeriodAndAmountAxis = axp_PriorPeriodReductionErrorsMember

X

- Definition

Represents Card Member reimbursements for various types of transactions dating back several years related to fees, interest and bonus rewards as well as incremental expense related to the consent orders entered into with the Company's U.S. banking regulators.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Details

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- Definition

Amount of increase (decrease) to net income used for calculating diluted earnings per share (EPS), resulting from the assumed exercise of stock options or restrictive stock units (RSUs).

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 260

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 1

-Subparagraph (a)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6371337&loc=d3e3550-109257

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