American Express to Acquire Expense Management Software Company Center
American Express (NYSE: AXP) has announced an agreement to acquire Center, a software company specializing in expense management. The integration aims to create a seamless platform combining Center's software with American Express' corporate and small business cards.
Center's technology, operational since 2018, streamlines expense management by providing real-time visibility into employee spending, automating accounting tasks, and optimizing financial decision-making. According to the company, their customers' finance teams save approximately 90% of time previously spent on expense-related tasks.
The acquisition, expected to close in Q2 2025, will enhance American Express' commercial card payments capabilities by offering automated accounting and reconciliation, while maintaining compliance with company policies and maximizing reward benefits.
American Express (NYSE: AXP) ha annunciato un accordo per acquisire Center, un'azienda software specializzata nella gestione delle spese. L'integrazione mira a creare una piattaforma fluida che combina il software di Center con le carte aziendali e per piccole imprese di American Express.
La tecnologia di Center, operativa dal 2018, semplifica la gestione delle spese fornendo visibilità in tempo reale sulle spese dei dipendenti, automatizzando i compiti contabili e ottimizzando il processo decisionale finanziario. Secondo l'azienda, i team finanziari dei loro clienti risparmiano circa il 90% del tempo precedentemente dedicato ai compiti legati alle spese.
L'acquisizione, prevista per chiudere nel Q2 2025, migliorerà le capacità di pagamento delle carte commerciali di American Express offrendo contabilità e riconciliazione automatizzate, mantenendo al contempo la conformità alle politiche aziendali e massimizzando i benefici delle ricompense.
American Express (NYSE: AXP) ha anunciado un acuerdo para adquirir Center, una empresa de software especializada en la gestión de gastos. La integración tiene como objetivo crear una plataforma fluida que combine el software de Center con las tarjetas corporativas y para pequeñas empresas de American Express.
La tecnología de Center, operativa desde 2018, optimiza la gestión de gastos al proporcionar visibilidad en tiempo real sobre el gasto de los empleados, automatizando tareas contables y optimizando la toma de decisiones financieras. Según la empresa, los equipos financieros de sus clientes ahorran aproximadamente el 90% del tiempo que antes dedicaban a tareas relacionadas con gastos.
Se espera que la adquisición, que se cierre en el Q2 2025, mejore las capacidades de pago con tarjetas comerciales de American Express al ofrecer contabilidad y conciliación automatizadas, manteniendo al mismo tiempo el cumplimiento de las políticas de la empresa y maximizando los beneficios de recompensas.
아메리칸 익스프레스 (NYSE: AXP)는 경비 관리 전문 소프트웨어 회사인 Center를 인수하기 위한 계약을 발표했습니다. 통합의 목표는 Center의 소프트웨어와 아메리칸 익스프레스의 기업 및 소규모 비즈니스 카드를 결합한 원활한 플랫폼을 만드는 것입니다.
2018년부터 운영 중인 Center의 기술은 직원의 지출에 대한 실시간 가시성을 제공하고, 회계 업무를 자동화하며, 재무 의사 결정을 최적화하여 경비 관리를 간소화합니다. 회사에 따르면, 고객의 재무 팀은 경비 관련 업무에 이전에 소요되던 시간의 약 90%를 절약하고 있습니다.
2025년 2분기에 마감될 예정인 이번 인수는 아메리칸 익스프레스의 상업 카드 결제 기능을 강화하여 자동화된 회계 및 조정을 제공하고, 회사 정책 준수를 유지하며 보상 혜택을 극대화할 것입니다.
American Express (NYSE: AXP) a annoncé un accord pour acquérir Center, une entreprise de logiciels spécialisée dans la gestion des dépenses. L'intégration vise à créer une plateforme fluide combinant le logiciel de Center avec les cartes d'entreprise et les cartes pour petites entreprises d'American Express.
La technologie de Center, en activité depuis 2018, rationalise la gestion des dépenses en fournissant une visibilité en temps réel sur les dépenses des employés, en automatisant les tâches comptables et en optimisant la prise de décision financière. Selon l'entreprise, les équipes financières de leurs clients économisent environ 90% du temps auparavant consacré aux tâches liées aux dépenses.
L'acquisition, qui devrait être finalisée au Q2 2025, améliorera les capacités de paiement par carte commerciale d'American Express en offrant une comptabilité et une réconciliation automatisées, tout en maintenant la conformité aux politiques de l'entreprise et en maximisant les avantages des récompenses.
American Express (NYSE: AXP) hat eine Vereinbarung zur Übernahme von Center angekündigt, einem Softwareunternehmen, das sich auf das Ausgabenmanagement spezialisiert hat. Die Integration zielt darauf ab, eine nahtlose Plattform zu schaffen, die die Software von Center mit den Firmen- und Kleinunternehmerkarten von American Express kombiniert.
Die Technologie von Center, die seit 2018 in Betrieb ist, vereinfacht das Ausgabenmanagement, indem sie Echtzeit-Transparenz über die Ausgaben der Mitarbeiter bietet, Buchhaltungsaufgaben automatisiert und die finanzielle Entscheidungsfindung optimiert. Laut dem Unternehmen sparen die Finanzteams ihrer Kunden etwa 90% der Zeit, die zuvor für aufgabenbezogene Tätigkeiten aufgewendet wurde.
Die Übernahme, die voraussichtlich im Q2 2025 abgeschlossen sein wird, wird die Zahlungsfähigkeiten von American Express im Bereich der Geschäftskarten verbessern, indem automatisierte Buchhaltung und Abstimmung angeboten werden, während die Einhaltung der Unternehmensrichtlinien gewährleistet und die Belohnungsvorteile maximiert werden.
- Acquisition strengthens AXP's leadership in commercial card payments
- Integration provides 90% time savings for finance teams
- Enhances product offering with automated expense management
- Creates new revenue stream in software services
- Additional costs and resources required for acquisition integration
- Execution risks in merging different technology platforms
Insights
American Express's acquisition of Center represents a strategic enhancement to its commercial services ecosystem. By integrating Center's expense management software with AXP's corporate and small business card offerings, the company is creating a more comprehensive solution that addresses multiple pain points in the business expense workflow.
This acquisition has strong strategic rationale. Expense management represents a significant friction point for businesses, requiring substantial manual effort and creating visibility challenges. Center's platform, which reportedly saves finance teams 90% of time previously spent on expense tasks, directly addresses these inefficiencies through automation of reconciliation, reporting, and compliance verification.
The integration creates a closed-loop system connecting payment cards with expense management - a powerful combination that strengthens American Express's value proposition in the competitive commercial payments space. This seamless connection between card usage and expense reporting eliminates process gaps that typically frustrate both employees and finance departments.
For American Express, this technology acquisition enhances its already strong position in corporate cards by adding capabilities that improve the customer experience, potentially driving both retention and increased card usage. The mobile-first approach aligns with user expectations for digital-first financial tools, while the automation capabilities address CFOs' needs for efficiency and control.
This move demonstrates American Express's commitment to investing in digital capabilities that strengthen its core commercial services business, likely creating differentiation in a competitive market while providing tangible operational benefits for business customers.
This acquisition addresses a fundamental disconnect in corporate expense management that creates significant operational inefficiencies. By bringing together card issuance and expense software, American Express is eliminating the traditional multi-step process that requires manual reconciliation between separate systems.
For CFOs and finance teams, the integration offers compelling benefits across three critical dimensions. First, the automation capabilities dramatically reduce administrative burden - with Center claiming a 90% reduction in time spent on expense-related tasks. This efficiency gain allows finance professionals to reallocate time toward higher-value strategic activities.
Second, the real-time visibility into employee spending empowers finance leaders with actionable intelligence, enabling more proactive budget management and spending control. Traditional expense systems often create significant reporting lag that hinders timely financial decisions.
Third, the compliance features help organizations enforce spending policies more effectively while maximizing the value derived from their American Express card programs. This dual benefit of control and rewards optimization represents meaningful financial value.
The integration creates a virtuous cycle for American Express's business model - a better expense management experience drives increased commercial card adoption and usage, while the expanded card footprint enhances the value of the expense management platform. This complementary relationship strengthens customer retention by making American Express more deeply embedded in clients' financial operations.
For businesses evaluating expense management solutions, this integrated offering eliminates the need to manage multiple vendor relationships while delivering operational efficiencies that directly impact bottom-line results.
Center’s software, together with American Express’ corporate and small business cards, will aim to create a seamless expense management platform that delivers more value across the commercial card payments process – from choice in premium card offerings and rewards to automated accounting and reconciliation.
“As a leader in corporate and small business cards, it is our job to deliver innovative products and services that help customers run their businesses more efficiently,” said Raymond Joabar, Group President, Global Commercial Services at American Express. “By integrating Center’s outstanding talent and technology, we can save our customers time and money and strengthen our leadership position in commercial card payments.”
“Center was founded with the mission to drive simplicity in the user experience and make expense management as effortless as swiping your card. Since 2018, our team has built industry-leading software and delivered strong results for our customers,” said Naveen Singh, CEO and Co-founder of Center. “We have always believed that card and expense management should be deeply linked, and we believe that even more great work can be done by incorporating our capabilities and talent into American Express.”
Center’s software is designed to remove friction from the expense management process, giving businesses real-time visibility into all employee spending, automating manual accounting tasks, streamlining expense submissions and reporting, and equipping finance teams with the tools and insights needed to better optimize decision making.
With an integrated card and expense management solution, American Express aims to help customers:
- Delight employees: Give employees the ability to easily manage expenses through a mobile-friendly, automated app and empower them to spend on-the-go with confidence.
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Automate tasks: The customizable expense management program will help businesses save time reviewing, auditing and posting expenses to the general ledger. Center customers see their finance teams free up an average of
90% of the time previously spent on these tasks. - Ensure compliance and maximize rewards: Business owners and CFOs will be able to confidently ensure their company’s spending remains fully compliant with company policy, while getting more value from their American Express card program.
The acquisition is expected to close within the second quarter of 2025, subject to customary closing conditions.
ABOUT AMERICAN EXPRESS
American Express is a globally integrated payments company, providing customers with access to products, insights and experiences that enrich lives and build business success. For more information about American Express, visit americanexpress.com, americanexpress.com/en-us/newsroom/, and ir.americanexpress.com.
ABOUT CENTER
Center is a software company modernizing corporate card, travel, and employee expense management with one integrated solution. Our corporate card and connected software gives businesses real-time visibility into all employee spending, automates manual accounting tasks, streamlines travel booking and expensing, and provides finance teams with the controls and data needed for optimal decision making. With a usage-based business model requiring no upfront investment, we combine self-service configurability with first-class deployment to ensure customer success. Center is headquartered in
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which are subject to risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements, which include current expectations regarding the transaction and future operations, among other matters, contain words such as “believe,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “aim,” “will,” “may,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “continue” and similar expressions. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they are made. The company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements, include, but are not limited to: the parties’ ability to satisfy the closing conditions and consummate the transaction; the underlying assumptions related to the transaction proving to be inaccurate or unrealized; and American Express’ ability to integrate Center and benefit from its talent and technology, which will depend in part on management’s decisions regarding future operations, strategies and business initiatives. A further description of these and other risks and uncertainties can be found in American Express’ Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 and its other reports filed with the SEC.
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Media
Ojas Naik
American Express
ojas.naik@aexp.com
Source: American Express
FAQ
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