Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
American Express Co. early Thursday announced it has agreed to acquire Hypercard Network Inc., a 4-year-old provider of expense-management technology based in New York City.
The deal, which AmEx expects will beef up accounting services it can offer on its commercial products, appeals to the card company because of Hypercard’s expertise in AI. The technology enables companies to automate much of the process behind expense management, including keeping expenses in line with budgets, AmEx says. It did not disclose the deal’s terms, beyond indicating it is expected to close before the end of the second quarter.
The card company says it expects to launch an expense-management platform later this year, making the deal for Hypercard a timely acquisition. “We’re thrilled to welcome Hyper, a team with deep expertise in designing and deploying AI agents, as we build next-generation AI capabilities into our products and services,” said Raymond Joabar, AmEx’s group president of global commercial services, in a statement.
The companies have worked together before, with AmEx in 2024 launching a rewards card for Hypercard. The card features AI agents programmed to monitor expenses. Indeed, AmEx chief executive Stephen Squeri, in a letter to shareholders last month touted the varied benefits offered by AI but also warned of risks. “Managing identity, authorization, fraud risk, and liability [is] of paramount importance for agentic commerce to be adopted broadly,” Squeri said.
The deal for Hypercard comes as AmEx lays increasing stress on AI. Earlier this week, the company released Agentic Commerce Experiences, a software development kit aimed at both merchants and consumers. Payments companies supporting the new product include Adyen, Fiserv, Forter, Global Payments, PayPal, and Stripe, with Delta, Expedia, and Hilton participating as merchant partners.
