American Express Company — Ethics Grade B-

American Express Company receives an overall ethics grade of B- (62/100) on CancelCo's corporate accountability database. Sector: Financial Services. Market cap: Large Cap.

Category scores

• labor: 60
• privacy: 80
• consumer: 55
• environment: 75
• humanRights: 65

Documented incidents (3)

• CFPB Fine for Illegal Fees (medium, 2022) — Regulators ordered Amex to pay $1 million in penalties and $2.4 million in refunds for illegal credit card practices and failing to provide promised rewards to customers.
• Diversity Training Backlash (medium, 2021) — The company faced criticism and internal strife over its 'critical race theory' influenced training modules, which some employees alleged created a divisive and hostile work environment.
• Merchant Fee Litigation (medium, 2018) — The Supreme Court ruled on a lawsuit regarding Amex's 'anti-steering' rules, which prevented merchants from encouraging customers to use cards with lower transaction fees.

Documented good deeds

• Small Business Saturday — Continues to invest millions into promoting local shopping through the Small Business Saturday initiative.

Ethical alternatives

• Vancity — Credit union model with high community investment and ethical lending standards.