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Non-Interest Revenue and Expense Detail (Details 1) - USD ($) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Details Of Certain Statements Of Income Lines Details [Abstract]
Gain on sale of investment in Concur Technologies	$ 0	$ 0	$ 744
Global Network Services partner revenues	654	640	694
Gross realized gains on sale of investment securities	9	1	100
Other	1,366	1,392	1,451
Total Other revenues	$ 2,029	$ 2,033	$ 2,989

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Details of Certain Statements of Income Lines Details.

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Represents revenues received from Global Network Service partners on use of the American Express brand name.

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Represents revenues from miscellaneous items within other revenues not previously classified.

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- Definition

This item represents the gross profit realized on the sale of debt or equity securities categorized neither as held-to-maturity nor trading securities.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 9
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=73527792&loc=d3e27357-111563

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Amount of gain (loss) on sale or disposal of an equity method investment.

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Amount of revenue earned, classified as other, excluding interest income.

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Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 225
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.9-04(13))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6879574&loc=d3e536633-122882

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 225
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-03(1)(e))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=63488584&loc=d3e20187-122688

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 225
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.7-04(4))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6879464&loc=d3e573970-122913

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