What is the most common complaint against American Express Company?

The most common issue consumers report about American Express Company is "Attempts to collect debt not owed", specifically "Threatened or suggested your credit would be damaged". This is based on 5,234 complaints filed with the CFPB.

Are complaints against American Express Company increasing or decreasing?

Complaints against American Express Company are rising. The company received 1,822 complaints in the last 12 months, indicating an upward trend in consumer issues.

What is American Express Company's reputation grade?

American Express Company has a reputation grade of D (score: 53.3/100), PlainCollector's composite letter grade blending complaint volume, response timeliness, dispute rate, and complaint trend.

Does American Express Company respond to consumer complaints?

American Express Company has a 100% timely response rate to CFPB complaints. Consumers disputed the company's response in 19% of cases.

In how many states does American Express Company operate?

American Express Company has received CFPB complaints from consumers in 53 states, with the most complaints from California (726 complaints).

This data comes from the CFPB Consumer Complaint Database and reflects consumer complaints, not proven violations.

American Express Company - Debt Collector Complaint Profile

CFPB complaint profile across 53 states, reputation grade D.

Compiled by PlainCollector

Attempts to collect debt not owed

1,827
Took or threatened to take negative or legal action

1,309
Communication tactics

601
Written notification about debt

524
False statements or representation

476
Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly

179

Data updated September 2026

CFPB complaint disposition

CCDB record american-express-company American Express Company

Grade D · 5,234 CFPB filings · 100% timely · lead issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed · vol #32 · compose #3672

VOL 5,234
GRADE D
12MO 1,822
STATES 53
TIMELY 100%
DISPUTE 19%
ISSUE Attempts to collect debt n…
RANK #32
COMPOSE #3,672

Volume peers

Nearest volume peer: Discover Bank (5,382 complaints)

CFPB complaint volume neighbourhood (this collector + nearest volume peers)

American Express Company's 5,234 CFPB complaints sit next to Discover Bank on the volume neighbourhood; peer NAMES stay, and disposition VALUES are this collector's. Grades compare collectors to each other - a complaint is a filing, not a proven violation. How to read a complaint count →

Distributed filing map

American Express Company spreads filings across 53 states - California leads at only 13.9%

Despite a broad state map, American Express Company still sits volume #32 against composite #3,672 - the two RankMaps diverge by 3,640 places. Corpus placement method.

Most-even geography: Lead state under 15%; California still leads at 13.9% across 53 states
Seasonal peak: 2024-02 9.0%; 8–15% band · 6 filings
Divergent corpus ranks: #32 volume; #3,672 composite; Cleanest-composite ladder is 3,640 places worse than volume

How does American Express Company compare to its peers?

How does AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY compare? Versus a similar-volume peer and the national average (collectors with ≥50 total complaints), drawn from 10 collectors with a comparable complaint count

AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPA… National average

Complaints (last 12 mo)lower is better

1,822

775

268

Timely-response ratehigher is better

100%

91%

Consumer-dispute ratelower is better

19%

16%

19%

Source: CFPB Consumer Complaint Database.

Complaint Trend (24 months)

2024-01 2026-02

Issue Detail Breakdown

Issue	Complaints
Attempts to collect debt not owed	1,827
Took or threatened to take negative or legal action	1,309
Communication tactics	601
Written notification about debt	524
False statements or representation	476
Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly	179
Cont'd attempts collect debt not owed	107
Disclosure verification of debt	92
Improper contact or sharing of info	59
Electronic communications	34

Where do complaints against American Express Company come from?

American Express Company's own per-state count, not a national baseline.

California

726
Florida

657
Texas

544
New York

468
Georgia

407
New Jersey

166
Illinois

165
Pennsylvania

158

Compare beyond geography

Nationwide peers by volume & timely response

Two PlainCollector-derived comparison paths for American Express Company: nearest all-time CFPB complaint volume and nearest CFPB timely-response rate among collectors with at least 100 logged complaints. State breakdowns above stay geographic; these neighborhoods vary by metric.

Similar filing volume

Nearest collectors by total CFPB complaints. This record: 5,234.

4 peers

Similar timely response rate

Nearest collectors by CFPB 15-day timely-response %. This record: 99.78406391708054%.

4 peers

Know your rights before responding to American Express Company: FDCPA rights guide · debt validation letter · rights library.

Data sourced from the CFPB Consumer Complaint Database. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCollector

According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Consumer Complaint Database, 1,139,236 debt collection complaints are represented in the current PlainCollector snapshot. See our methodology for how PlainCollector computes each company's reputation grade from this data.

Every figure on PlainCollector is rendered directly from federal source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on federal source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.