2025-04-17 American Express Company (AXP) Q1 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) Q1 2025 Earnings Conference Call April 17, 2025 8:30 AM ET
Company Participants
Kartik Ramachandran - Head, IR
Stephen Squeri - Chairman & CEO
Christophe Le Caillec - CFO
Conference Call Participants
Sanjay Sakhrani - KBW
Mark DeVries - Deutsche Bank
Don Fandetti - Wells Fargo
Richard Shane - JPMorgan
Erika Najarian - UBS
Jeffrey Adelson - Morgan Stanley
Craig Maurer - FT Partners
Cristopher Kennedy - William Blair
Terry Ma - Barclays
Gus Gala - MCH
Robert Wildhack - Autonomous Research
Mihir Bhatia - Bank of America
Operator
运营员
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Welcome to the American Express Q1 2025 Earnings Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, today's call is being recorded.
女士们、先生们，感谢您耐心等待。欢迎参加美国运通2025年第一季度财报电话会议。此刻所有与会者均为聆听模式。稍后，我们将进行问答环节。[运营员指令] 温馨提示，本次电话会议正在录音。
I would now like to turn the conference over to our host, Head of Investor Relations, Mr. Kartik Ramachandran. Thank you. Please go ahead.
现在，我将会议交给我们的主持人、投资者关系负责人Kartik Ramachandran先生。谢谢，请开始。
Kartik Ramachandran
Thank you, Donna, and thank you all for joining today's call. As a reminder, before we begin, today's discussion contains forward-looking statements about the company's future business and financial performance. These are based on management's current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these statements are included in today's presentation slides and in our reports on file with the SEC.
谢谢你，Donna，也感谢各位今天参加电话会议。温馨提示：在会议开始前，今天的讨论包含关于公司未来业务和财务表现的前瞻性声明。这些声明基于管理层当前的预期，可能受风险和不确定性影响。可能导致实际结果与这些声明存在重大差异的因素，已在今日的演示文稿及提交给美国证监会的报告中披露。
The discussion today also contains non-GAAP financial measures. The comparable GAAP financial measures are included in this quarter's earnings materials, as well as the earnings materials for the prior periods we discussed. All of these are posted on our website at ir.americanexpress.com.
今天的讨论还包含非公认会计准则（non‑GAAP）财务指标。可比的公认会计准则（GAAP）财务指标已收录于本季度财报材料及我们所讨论的往期财报材料中，均可在我们的官网 ir.americanexpress.com 查阅。
We'll begin today with Steve Squeri, Chairman and CEO, who will start with some remarks about the company's progress and results; and then Christophe Le Caillec, Chief Financial Officer will provide a more detailed review of our financial performance. After that, we'll move to a Q&A session on the results with both Steve and Christophe.
今天我们将由董事长兼首席执行官Steve Squeri先做公司进展和业绩的简要说明，随后由首席财务官Christophe Le Caillec对我们的财务表现进行更详细的回顾。之后，我们将与Steve和Christophe一起进入业绩问答环节。
With that, let me turn it over to Steve.
话不多说，我将时间交给Steve。
Stephen Squeri
Thanks, Kartik. Good morning, and thanks for joining us. We had another strong quarter to start the year. We delivered revenues of $17 billion, up 8% year-over-year on an FX adjusted basis, or 9% excluding the leap year impact, and we generated net income of $2.6 billion or $3.64 per share.
谢谢你，Kartik。早上好，感谢大家参加。我们在年初又取得了强劲表现。收入达170亿美元，经汇率调整同比增长8%，若剔除润年因素则增长9%；净利润为26亿美元，折合每股收益3.64美元。
During the first quarter, our premium customer base continued to spend at healthy levels. Total card member spending grew 6% in the quarter, or 7% excluding the impact of leap year, with spending on goods and services continuing to grow at a faster rate than in 2024.
第一季度，我们的高端客户群继续维持健康的消费水平。总卡会员消费额季度内增长6%，剔除润年因素后增长7%，商品与服务消费增速持续高于2024年水平。
In T&E, while we saw a sequential slowdown in airline billings growth, billings in restaurants and lodging remained strong in the quarter, and overall T&E growth was in line with the steady levels we saw through most of last year.
在差旅与娱乐（T&E）方面，尽管航空账单增速环比有所放缓，但餐饮和住宿账单在本季度保持强劲，整体T&E增长与去年大部份时间的稳定水平相当。
We also continued to grow our customer base, adding 3.4 million new cards in the quarter. As in past quarters, Millennial and Gen-Z consumers made up over 60% of new consumer accounts acquired globally in Q1. In addition, card fee growth was up 20% on an FX adjusted basis.
我们还持续扩大客户规模，本季度新增卡会员340万。与往季一样，千禧一代和Z世代消费者在第一季度全球新增个人账户中占比超过60%。此外，卡费收入经汇率调整后增长20%。
Retention continued to be high, and our credit performance remained excellent. While it's still very early in the second quarter, through the first week and a half in April, overall spending levels have remained consistent with what we saw in the first quarter in both goods and services and T&E, and across all customer segments.
客户留存率持续维持高位，信用表现依然优异。虽然第二季度才刚开始，但截至四月中旬的前一周半时间里，无论在商品与服务还是T&E，以及所有客户群体中，整体消费水平都与第一季度保持一致。
Based on the steady spend and credit trends we've seen to date, we are maintaining our full year revenue growth guidance of 8% to 10% and EPS of $15 to $15.50. While we recognize that uncertainty in the environment has increased, the guidance incorporates the changes that we see in the macroeconomic outlook as of today.
基于迄今为止稳定的消费和信用趋势，我们维持全年收入增长8%至10%以及每股收益15至15.50美元的指引。尽管我们也意识到环境不确定性在提升，但该指引已纳入当下对宏观经济前景的最新判断。
As we think about the near future, we have a resilient and differentiated business model that positions us well to navigate a range of economic environments. First and foremost, we have a global premium customer base at scale. In fact, as our customer base has grown over the past several years, it has gotten even more premium. Our card members at high incomes are loyal, high spending, and have excellent credit profiles. And as you know, we underwrite all our card members through the credit cycle.
展望近期，我们拥有韧性且差异化的商业模式，能够在多种经济环境中从容应对。首先，我们拥有规模化的全球高端客户群。事实上，随着过去几年客户规模增长，我们的客户群更加优质：高收入会员忠诚度高、消费能力强、信用记录佳。正如您所知，我们在整个信贷周期内对所有卡会员进行严格承保。
Another key differentiator of our model is our mix of revenues, with the combination of spend and fees accounting of 75% of our overall revenue base, which makes us less reliant on lending revenues and less sensitive to credit cycles compared to our competitors.
我们的另一大差异化优势是收入构成：消费支出与卡费占整体收入75%，使得我们对信贷收入的依赖更低，对信贷周期的敏感度也低于竞争对手。
Also, we have significant expense leverage and flexibility that has grown as our scale has increased over the past several years, enabling us to effectively control our costs, while continuing to invest for the long term.
此外，随着规模不断扩大，我们在过去数年中已积累了显著的费用杠杆和灵活性，使我们能够有效控制成本，同时持续进行长期投资。
In addition to the natural hedges and our customer engagement expenses, we have several levers across our marketing and operating expense lines, enabling us to quickly pivot if the environment changes.
除了自然对冲和客户参与费用外，我们在营销及运营费用项目上也拥有多个调节杠杆，能够在环境变化时迅速作出调整。
Looking ahead, we'll need to see how things play out in the coming months. That said, we are operating from a position of strength, and we have a set of principles that guide us. Our fundamental objective, as it is with everything we do, is to manage the company for the long-term growth for our shareholders.
展望未来数月，我们将继续观察事态进展。但就目前而言，我们处于有利地位，并遵循一套指导原则。我们的根本目标——也是所有工作开展的核心——是为股东实现公司长期增长。
As we do so, we are focused on four core principles. Above all, we'll back our customers through ongoing enhancements to our products and services, as well as providing support for those who may need it.
在此过程中，我们聚焦四大核心原则。首先，我们将通过持续提升产品和服务来支持客户，并为有需要的客户提供更多帮助。
We'll also back our colleagues so they continue to focus on innovating for our customers and providing a world class experience that is core to our brand.
其次，我们将支持同事，确保他们继续聚焦为客户创新，提供品牌核心的世界级体验。
We'll exercise disciplined expense management, using the various levers in our business model to maintain financial flexibility.
第三，我们将实施严格的费用管理，利用商业模式中的各项杠杆保持财务灵活性。
And we'll continue to invest strategically for the long-term in areas that strengthen our foundational capabilities such as technology, control management, and customer acquisition, as well as capitalizing on opportunities that emerge for expanding our membership model with new and enhanced products, services, and experiences.
第四，我们将继续在技术、风险控制和客户获取等基础能力领域进行战略性长期投资，并抓住机遇，通过新产品、新服务和新体验来扩展会员模式。
As we move ahead, we are committed to following these principles and leveraging the advantages of our business model, which makes me confident that we are well-positioned for continued growth over the long-term.
未来，我们将坚定践行这些原则，发挥商业模式优势，这使我对公司长期持续增长充满信心。
I'll now turn it over to Christophe to provide more color on our first quarter results, and then we'll answer your questions.
现在，我将把时间交给Christophe，他将对第一季度业绩进行更深入解读，然后我们会回答大家的问题。
Christophe Le Caillec
Thank you, Steve, and good morning, everyone. In the first quarter, we generated 8% FX adjusted revenue growth or 9% excluding the impact of leap year and earnings per share of $3.64. These results are tracking in line with the guidance we gave for the full year. Key business indicators such as spend, retention, credit performance, and demand for our premium products continued to be strong and stable in the quarter, while the level of macroeconomic uncertainty has increased, the activity that we see across our customer base is consistent with, and in many cases, better than what we saw in 2024.
谢谢你，Steve，大家早上好。第一季度，我们实现了8%的汇率调整后收入增长，若剔除润年因素则为9%，每股收益为3.64美元。这些业绩与我们全年指引保持一致。关键业务指标——如消费额、留存率、信用表现以及高端产品需求——在本季度仍然强劲且稳定，尽管宏观经济不确定性有所上升，但我们在客户群体中看到的活动与2024年持平，甚至在许多方面有所超越。
Turning to Billed Business performance, starting on Slide 3. I'd remind you that the grow over from leap year in 2024 drove about a percentage point drag on year-over-year growth rates across segments and spend categories. As we look at spend trends over the next few slides, I'll speak to Billed Business growth rates that are adjusted for leap year as well as FX. Total Billed Business was up around 7.5% year-over-year. This growth is around a percentage point higher than what we saw for the full year 2024.
我们来看计费业务表现，从幻灯片3开始。我想提醒各位，2024年润年因素导致各细分业务和消费类别的同比增长率被拖累了约一个百分点。在接下来的幻灯片中，我将讨论剔除润年因素和汇率影响后的计费业务增长率。总体计费业务同比增长约7.5%，这一增速较2024年全年高出约一个百分点。
Goods and Services spending sustained the uptick we saw in Q4 of last year, continuing to grow at a faster pace than what we saw in 2024. And T&E grew in line with the steady levels we saw for most of the last -- most of last year, reflecting continued strength in restaurant and lodging spending. We did see a deceleration in airline spending relative to 2024 trends. Although, spending on front of cabin tickets remained strong, up around 11% in the quarter.
商品与服务消费延续了去年第四季度的回升，增速持续高于2024年水平。差旅与娱乐（T&E）消费也保持了去年大部分时间的稳定增速，餐饮和住宿支出持续强劲。航空消费相较于2024年有所放缓，但头等舱和商务舱机票支出依然强劲，本季度增长约11%。
As we break down spend trends across our business over the next few slides, there are a few key points I want to highlight. We continue to see solid growth across our affluent U.S. consumer base, with spend up 8%. Millennial and Gen-Z customers once again drove our highest billed business growth within this segment.
在接下来的幻灯片中分解业务消费趋势时，我想强调几点。我们美国高端消费者群体的消费持续稳健增长，同比增长8%。千禧一代和Z世代客户再次成为该细分市场中计费业务增长的主要动力。
Commercial Services spend was up 3% versus last year, consistent with the trends we saw in 2024. U.S. SME spending at wholesale merchants saw a modest acceleration in growth over the quarter, possibly reflecting higher purchases in advance of potential price increases. International Card Services' spend was up 14%. The strong growth was seen across geographies, with each of our top five markets growing by double-digits, and we continue to see strong demand for and engagement with our products.
商业服务消费同比增长3%，与2024年的趋势一致。美国中小企业在批发商处的支出在本季度出现小幅加速，可能反映了在潜在价格上涨前的更高采购需求。国际卡服务消费增长14%，这一强劲增长在各地域均有体现，五大市场均实现两位数增长，我们的产品需求和用户参与度持续走强。
Turning to lending performance on Slide 7. Loans and card member receivables increased 7% year-over-year on an FX adjusted basis. Our premium products continue to be the primary driver of that growth, with our pay over time and co-brand portfolios driving around 80% of growth in card member revolving loans in the first quarter. These products tend to attract high creditworthy customers, supporting our model of growing lending, while maintaining best-in-class credit performance.
来看幻灯片7的贷款表现。经汇率调整，贷款及卡会员应收款同比增长7%。我们的高端产品依然是这一增长的主要驱动力，分期付款和联名卡组合在第一季度推动了约80%的循环贷款增长。这些产品倾向于吸引信用状况优良的客户，支持我们增长贷款规模的同时保持行业领先的信用表现。
Turning to Slides 8 and 9. Our credit performance continues to be very strong. Both delinquency and write-off rates were below pre-pandemic levels and flat to the prior year. The profile of the portfolio has strengthened over the past few years. Looking at our recent acquisitions, the delinquency rate of low tenure customers, defined as those with 24 months or less of tenure, is about 30% lower than 2019 levels for U.S. consumer card members. This quarter, we had about $1.2 billion of provision expense. This include a slow reserve release, mostly reflecting the strong quality of the portfolio and the macroeconomic outlook as of quarter end.
来看幻灯片8和9。我们的信用表现依然非常强劲。逾期率和核销率均低于疫情前水平，并与去年持平。过去几年，我们的资产组合质量持续增强。就近期新客户而言，美国消费者卡会员中任职期不超过24个月的低任期客户逾期率较2019年水平低约30%。本季度，我们计提准备金约12亿美元，其中包括少量准备金释放，主要反映资产组合质量优异以及季度末宏观经济预期。
Turning next to revenue on Slide 10. Total revenues were up 8% year-over-year on an FX adjusted basis or 9% excluding leap year. Before we discuss this quarter's trends, I'd remind you that the strengthening of the U.S. dollar that occurred throughout last year continues to be a headwind to reported revenue growth, although, a bit less than we anticipated earlier in the quarter. Also, starting this quarter, we consolidated process revenue within service fees and other revenue.
接下来看幻灯片10的收入情况。经汇率调整，总收入同比增长8%，剔除润年因素后增长9%。在讨论本季度趋势前，我想提醒各位，去年全年美元走强持续对报告收入增长构成拖累，不过影响较我们本季度初预期略小。此外，从本季度开始，我们将流程收入并入服务费及其他收入中核算。
Starting with discount revenue, our largest revenue line was up 5% year-over-year FX adjusted, and is mostly driven by the spend trends I discussed earlier. Net card fees were at record levels and increased 20% FX adjusted as shown on Slide 12, reflecting our 27th consecutive quarter of double-digit card fee growth, and we saw strong demand for our products as we acquired 3.4 million new cards in the quarter.
从折扣收入开始，我们的最大收入来源经汇率调整同比增长5%，主要受前述消费趋势驱动。净卡费收入达到创纪录水平，经汇率调整增长20%，如下幻灯片12所示，这标志着我们连续第27个季度实现两位数的卡费增长，本季度新增卡会员340万，也体现了产品需求的强劲。
A key driver of our strong card fee growth over the past few years has been the acquisition of new card members on fee paying products, which accounted for around 70% of new accounts in the quarter. Another important contributor has been our ability to attract customers on higher fee products over time. Over the past three years, the average card fee per new account acquired has increased by around 40%, reflecting strong demand for our premium products and our success in pricing for the increased value we provide customers as we refresh our products.
过去几年我们卡费收入强劲增长的一个关键驱动因素是以付费产品吸引新卡会员，本季度约70%的新增账户来自此举。另一个重要因素是我们不断吸引客户选择更高费率的产品。过去三年中，新增账户的平均卡费增加了约40%，反映出客户对高端产品的强劲需求，以及我们在产品迭代中成功为客户创造更多价值的定价能力。
Turning to Slide 13. Net interest income increased 11% on an FX adjusted basis, growing slightly faster than loans and receivables, as we saw increases in net yield versus last year.
看幻灯片13。净利息收入经汇率调整同比增长11%，增速略快于贷款及应收款，因为净收益率较去年有所提升。
Turning now to expense performance on Slide 15. The VCE to revenue ratio came in at 43% this quarter. Rewards expense grew 16% year-over-year. As a reminder, this quarter, we are growing over the benefit we saw in Q1 of last year from changes to our URR model. In addition, as we mentioned last quarter, some small changes we made to the program that are good for both customers and our overall economics are driving a small increase in the URR in the short term.
接下来看幻灯片15的费用表现。本季度价值成本效率（VCE）占收入比率为43%。奖励支出同比增长16%。需提醒的是，本季度我们基于去年第一季度URR模型调整带来的较低基数实现增长。此外，正如上季度所述，我们对该项目进行了一些对客户和整体经济性都有益的小调整，短期内推动了URR的小幅上升。
Now that we have lapped impact from the URR model change -- from the URR model changed last year, we expect rewards to grow more in line with the historical trend for the remainder of this year. As you can see, marketing and OpEx continue to be key sources of expense leverage for our business. And our flexible model is an important advantage that allows us to dial up or down expenses as needed through different economic environments.
随着我们已度过去年URR模型调整的影响期，预计今年余下时间奖励支出将更符合历史趋势。如您所见，营销和运营开支依然是我们业务的主要费用杠杆，而我们的灵活模式使我们能够根据不同经济环境需要随时调整开支。
Let me move to capital on Slide 16. Our CET1 ratio was 10.7% within our 10% to 11% target range. We returned $1.3 billion of capital to our shareholders, including $0.6 billion of dividends and $0.7 billion of share repurchases. And this quarter, we increased our dividend by 17%. Our differentiated spend and fee driven business model generates a strong ROE, which was 34% in the quarter, providing us with very strong capital flexibility.
让我转到幻灯片16谈谈资本状况。我们的普通股一级资本比率（CET1）为10.7%，位于10%至11%的目标区间内。我们向股东返还了13亿美元资本，其中6亿美元为股息，7亿美元为回购。本季度我们将股息提高了17%。我们以消费和卡费为驱动的差异化商业模式创造了34%的高回报率，为我们提供了极强的资本灵活性。
Before we turn to our 2025 guidance, let me talk about the trends we're seeing in recent weeks. As Steve discussed, looking at the first week and a half of April, overall spending trends are consistent with Q1. We are seeing this performance for both T&E and goods and services as well as across our U.S. consumer, international, and commercial customer segments. Given the environment, we have also seen SME purchases accelerate with wholesale merchants. Additionally, demand for our products is in line with our expectations.
在转到2025年指引前，我先谈谈近期几周的趋势。正如Steve所述，观察今年四月前一周半的情况，整体消费趋势与第一季度保持一致，无论是T&E还是商品与服务，也包括美国消费者、国际和商业客户群体。鉴于环境变化，我们还看到中小企业在批发商处的采购有所加速。此外，产品需求也符合我们的预期。
This brings me to our 2025 guidance. Given the stability of our performance to date, we are maintaining our guidance of revenue growth of 8% to 10% and earnings per share between $15 and $15.50. This guidance incorporates a macroeconomic outlook with a peak weighted average unemployment rate of around 5.7%, higher than the outlook as it stood at quarter end. Of course, there are clearly many uncertainties in the macroeconomic environment, but given the balance of factors, we believe this guidance is appropriate. And more importantly, we remain confident and focused on the long-term growth of the company.
接下来谈谈2025年指引。鉴于目前业绩的稳定性，我们维持收入增长8%至10%和每股收益15至15.50美元的指引。该指引基于约5.7%的加权平均峰值失业率的宏观经济预期，高于季度末时的预期。当然，宏观环境存在诸多不确定性，但综合各方面因素，我们认为该指引是恰当的。更重要的是，我们对公司长期增长充满信心并将持续专注于此。
With that, I will now turn the call back over to Kartik, and we will take your questions.
话题到此结束，我现在将会议交还给Kartik，我们将回答您的问题。
Kartik Ramachandran
Kartik Ramachandran
Thank you, Christophe. Before we open up the lines for Q&A, I will ask those in the queue to please limit yourselves to just one question. Thank you for your cooperation.
谢谢你，Christophe。在我们开始问答环节之前，我请排队的各位将提问限制为一个问题。感谢配合。
And with that, the operator will now open up the line for questions. Operator?
话题到此，现由运营员开放提问线路。运营员，请？
Question-and-Answer Session
问答环节
Operator
运营员
[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Sanjay Sakhrani of KBW. Please go ahead.
[运营员指令] 我们的第一个问题来自KBW的Sanjay Sakhrani。请提问。
Stephen Squeri
Sanjay?
Operator
运营员
Sanjay, just make sure your phone is not on mute.
Sanjay，请确认你的麦克风未被静音。
Sanjay Sakhrani
Sorry, I was on mute. Good morning. Sorry. So Steve, we've heard a lot about pull forward of spending. And I'm just curious, if you guys have seen any indication that that's sort of propping up spend volumes. And then just sort of along the lines, if we do see some volatility or weakness in spending and revenues, how far do you want to go in terms of sort of protecting earnings? How low does revenues need to go for you to sort of just cut the line in terms of expense reductions? Thanks.
抱歉，我刚才静音了。早上好。对不起。Steve，我们听到很多关于“提前消费”的讨论。我想了解，您是否看到任何迹象表明这在支撑消费量？另外，如果我们确实看到消费和收入出现波动或疲软，您会在多大程度上采取措施保护利润？收入需要下滑到什么程度，您才会开始削减费用？谢谢。
Stephen Squeri
So look, we really haven't seen any pull forward at all. I think when you look at -- when you look at the entire first quarter, and I think you really want to focus in on March and then in early April, there's really been no pull forward at all. We see a little bit in small business and a little bit in wholesale pull forward, but I mean, you're talking a couple of points here. You're not talking about anything significant. So I don't think that's -- that has been a phenomenon.
看，我们实际上并未看到任何提前消费。我认为，如果看整个第一季度，尤其是三月和四月初，根本没有提前消费的迹象。我们在小企业和批发业务中看到了一点点提前，但也只是几个百分点，并不显著。所以我认为这并不是一个普遍现象。
Having said that, it's still early in the game, right? I mean, we're early innings here, and we'll just have to see how it all plays out. But just to be clear, from a consumer perspective, we see no pull forward at all. And people continue to book, and we didn't talk about this in the call, but we had the highest number of travel bookings that we've had -- that we've ever had in Internet -- and that included -- that includes a high in international as well, international bookings from our travel related services. So I think that we haven't seen -- we haven't seen a pull forward. We're seeing our customers act as they have acted in the past.
话虽如此，现在还只是初期阶段，我们需要继续观察。不过要明确的是，从消费者角度来看，我们确实未见提前消费。消费者持续预订，而且虽然我们在电话中未提及，但我们在互联网上的旅行预订数量创历史新高，其中包括国际预订也大幅上涨。我认为，我们没有看到提前消费，客户的行为与以往一致。
The other two points I'll make, and then I'll get to the revenue one is that, one thing that has not been associated with our card member spending has either been what's happened with the stock market or what's happened with consumer confidence. Our card members may say they don't have any confidence into the economy, but they still continue to spend, and they're not spending off what's in the market. So those two factors, which I get asked a lot about are not really factors in our customer spending.
还有两点要补充，然后谈谈收入。第一，股票市场和消费者信心并未对我们的卡会员消费产生关联影响。即便卡会员表示对经济不信任，他们依然持续消费，也并非基于市场财产支出。因此，这两个常被询问的因素并未实质影响客户的消费。
I think, look, as we've said before, from a guidance perspective, and I said this at conferences, we believe that -- at that 8% range, we can make our EPS number. And -- but the other thing that I will say is that I'm not going to pass up good opportunities to invest for the future just to hit a number. I mean, it's not how I've run the company over the last seven years or so. And as I said, even during COVID, we continue to invest when others might have pulled back.
我认为，就指引而言，正如我在各大会上所说，我们相信在8%左右的收入增速下可以实现预期的每股收益。但我想强调的是，我不会为追求数字而放弃优秀的长期投资机会——过去七年，我一直如此经营公司。就连在疫情期间，当他人缩减投入时，我们仍持续投资。
And so I just want to reinforce, we are running this company for the longer term. If I see a good opportunity, I'm going to continue to invest in it. But I do believe, where we are right now with the macroeconomic situation the way it is, that we can continue to be within our guidance range on both revenue and EPS. And as we've said in the past, we have the aspirational goal of 10% revenue, however, we also have said that we can make -- we can hit our EPS range if revenue goes lower.
所以我要重申，我们是在为长期发展经营公司。如果看到好机会，我会继续投资。但我也相信，以目前的宏观经济环境，我们可以持续保持收入和每股收益在指引区间内。正如之前所说，我们的理想目标是实现10%的收入增长，但即便收入下滑，我们也能达到每股收益的目标区间。
Operator
运营员
Thank you. The next question is coming from Mark DeVries of Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead.
谢谢。下一个问题来自德意志银行的Mark DeVries，请提问。
Mark DeVries
德意志银行的Mark DeVries
Yeah. Thanks. So, if some of these steeper tariffs go through as initially proposed, Steve, can you just talk about which segments of your business you would expect to be under the most pressure? And is there anything you can do from a risk management perspective to get out in front of that?
好的，谢谢。那么，如果这些更高的关税按最初提议实施，Steve，您认为贵公司哪些业务领域将面临最大压力？从风险管理角度，有什么措施可以提前应对？
Stephen Squeri
Well, I mean, look, from a risk management perspective, we're constantly, on a daily basis modifying — our inputs in modifying our models and looking on that. So we always like to think we're way out in front of that anyway. But I think that where you would wind up looking is, you would look at small businesses first. I think small businesses might be the ones that would be impacted first.
嗯，首先，从风险管理角度讲，我们每天都在调整模型输入并进行监控，所以认为自己已经走在前面。但要关注的首先是小企业，因为它们可能最先受到影响。
And if you think about our consumers, what our consumers tend to do is they spend a little bit less, revolve a little bit less. And I’ll just take you back to COVID. Remember, we have a — we have really a self‑liquidating balance sheet, right? And so our balance sheets made up a lot of our AR. And as consumers spend a little bit less, that’s how they regulate risk.
再看消费者方面，他们通常会减少一点消费、降低一些循环透支。回顾COVID时期，我们的资产负债表其实是自我清偿的，因此当消费者减少支出时，他们就在通过这种方式管理风险。
And so, but small businesses, I think small businesses are the ones that we would pay a lot more attention to, just because costs may not make — they could be put in a situation that will not be able to compete effectively in the market. So we'll continue to look at small businesses as this situation evolves. But rest assured, we're looking at this proactively right now, much like we did pre‑COVID in terms of looking at people's lines, looking at who we bring into the franchise.
因此，我们会特别关注小企业，因为它们可能因成本上升而难以有效竞争。随着事态发展，我们会持续关注小企业。但请放心，我们正如疫情前那样，主动监控信用额度和新客户准入情况。
And what I would say is that, if you look at our card base now versus our card base in 2019, it is more premium than it was at that point with higher FICOs. And the other thing that I'll say, because people will start looking at Millennials and low tenure card members, our Millennial and Gen‑Zs are performing significantly better, both from a FICO perspective and from a delinquency perspective, than the industry. And secondly, our low tenured card members' delinquency rates are actually lower than our low tenured card members who were back in 2019.
此外，与2019年相比，我们现有卡会员群体的资质更优、FICO评分更高。针对千禧一代和Z世代低任期会员，他们的FICO评分和逾期率都显著优于行业平均水平，新任期会员的逾期率甚至低于2019年的同类群体。
Operator
运营员
Thank you. The next question is coming from Don Fandetti of Wells Fargo. Please go ahead.
谢谢。下一个问题来自富国银行的Don Fandetti，请提问。
Don Fandetti
Hi. Good morning. Steve, can you talk a little bit about card refresh and fee growth? I know one of your competitors recently raised fees on co‑brand cards. In this environment, do you still feel like you have the ability to sort of grow fees?
你好，上午好。Steve，您能谈谈卡片更新和费用增长吗？我知道您的一位竞争对手最近对联名卡提价。在当前环境下，您是否仍有空间提升费用？
Stephen Squeri
I think that, look, we're still committed to doing refreshes. We've refreshed over 150 products over the last five years or so. We've got a bunch of refreshes in progress, how many we wind up doing. We'll see how it all plays out. It's more due. I think there's a lot of them in progress. The question becomes how — from a value proposition development, technology development, how they all get through the — through this — through the pipeline this year, but we're still committed to doing refresh.
我认为，我们依然致力于产品更新。过去五年左右，我们已更新了150多款产品，并有一系列正在进行中的更新项目，最终会更新多少还要看具体进展。关键在于这些新价值主张和技术如何在今年的产品研发管道中落地，但我们依然坚定推进更新。
As far as raising fees, we don't raise fees indiscriminately. You raise fees when you add value. And our playbook has been, we will raise the fee when we raise value that is even more commensurate than with the fees. So as we think about refreshes, what I will tell you is that whatever fee we wind up raising — and look, the reality is, we don't do a lot of refreshes without raising the fees, but we also don't do any refreshes without significantly enhancing the value that we put in.
至于提价，我们不会盲目加费，只有在为客户创造了额外价值后才会提升费用。我们的模式是，价值增长幅度要大于费用提升幅度。因此，无论最终提高多少费用，都伴随着显著的价值增强。
So you can rest assured that when someone does a rational calculation of what the fee raise is and what the value is, it becomes an easy decision to continue with the product or even a better decision to get the product at that particular point in time. So that — the environment will not impact our fee decisioning with our cards because that fee decision is totally based on value, and our card members wind up getting back more than they put in. And one might argue, it might even be a better investment at this time than in a good environment.
因此，当客户理性衡量费用调整与价值提升后，他们会发现继续使用甚至选择该产品都是明智之举。当前环境不会改变我们的定价原则，因为费率决定完全基于价值，而卡会员获得的回报始终超过所付费用。有人甚至可以说，在此时投资我们的产品比在经济良好时更具性价比。
Operator
运营员
Thank you. The next question is coming from Rick Shane of J.P. Morgan. Please go ahead.
谢谢。下一个问题来自摩根大通的Rick Shane，请提问。
Richard Shane
Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my questions this morning. Hey, Steve. You talked about investing across the cycle basically as a strategic initiative. I'm curious tactically, given where we are, where you see opportunities? And I'm curious, sort of, where you're going to be more aggressive, where you're going to be more defensive? And I did note that the amount of capital you retain from first quarter profits was the highest it's been since COVID. So I'm curious, how you're looking at capital aggressive -- offensively, defensively as well?
大家好。感谢今天上午回答我的提问。Steve，您提到将跨周期投资作为战略举措。结合目前形势，您在战术层面如何寻找机会？在哪些方面会更积极，在哪些方面会更保守？我注意到您从第一季度利润中保留的资本自疫情以来最高，所以我也想了解在进攻性和防御性资本部署上，您持何种看法？
Stephen Squeri
Yeah. So I'll let Christophe answer the capital question. I mean, there's always, we look to return about 80% of our earnings to our shareholders. And you'll notice from quarter-to-quarter, it does swing. And particularly in the first quarter, just go back historically, the first quarter is usually one of our lowest quarters where we do return capital. But the capital that we return this particular quarter was only about $300 million less than we actually returned in the fourth quarter of last year, so it wasn't all that much. They're checking the slides to make sure that my comment was correct there.
好的。我先让Christophe回答资本问题。我们通常会将约80%的利润返还给股东。您会看到，这一比例在各季度间会有所波动，尤其是第一季度历来是我们资本返还量最低的季度之一。但本季度返还的资本仅比去年第四季度少3亿美元，所以差异并不显著。我刚才在确认我的说法是否准确。
But look, from an investment perspective, you just saw that we just completed the Center acquisition. We believe that -- that's an important acquisition for us for small business and for middle market and that obviously has some capital implications, especially, in the second quarter as we closed it. But when you look at our business and specifically in technology, we're constantly upgrading our technology infrastructure. When I talk about technology infrastructure, I'm not only just talking about the hardware aspects of it, but I'm talking about all the systems that run behind it.
但从投资角度来说，您刚才也看到我们完成了Center的收购。我们认为这对小型企业和中端市场都非常重要，并且对资本有一定的影响，尤其是在第二季度完成收购时。但从业务层面看，尤其是技术方面，我们持续升级技术基础设施。我所说的技术基础设施，不仅包括硬件，还包括其背后运行的所有系统。
And the reality is that some of these projects go for a couple of years, and some of them are months, and what have you, but you can't stop the upgrading and the investment from a technology infrastructure because you anticipate, times may be a little bit tough. It has to continue because we're running this company for the long-term, and anybody that's ever been involved in this realize you don't stop and start long-term projects.
事实是，有些项目持续数年，有些则数月，但你不能因为预见到可能的波动就停止技术基础设施的升级和投资。这必须持续，因为我们是为长期经营这家公司。任何参与过此事的人都明白，不能中断或重启长期项目。
The other thing that you don't stop and start is, you don't stop and start your refresh strategy. I mean, we have been committed to continually enhancing and developing our products and services over the long-term. And we're on a program that basically says, we're going to refresh all of our product, and I'll put all in quotes from a three to four year cycle. And so, you just can't stop that. If you did, then I think you're doing a disservice to your customers and you're doing a disservice to your shareholders.
另一件你不能中断或重启的事是产品更新战略。我们一直致力于长期持续完善和开发产品与服务。我们的计划基本上是每三到四年对所有产品进行一次更新。因此，你无法停下这项工作，否则就是对客户和股东不负责任。
And this goes back to Sanjay's earlier question about how much potentially would you cut to make EPS guidance? And my perspective is that again, we're running it for the longer term and for me to stop a technology project or for me to stop a refresh or an enhancements because I want to make another $0.20 for the year is fool hearted. And it's not something that you would ever -- you shouldn't ever expect me to do. So we're looking to make sure that this company continues to become stronger day-by-day, and you do that by continuing to invest and continuing to stay true to what your core principles are.
这也呼应了Sanjay之前关于“为实现每股收益指引你可能会削减多少”的问题。我的看法是，我们仍以长期经营为导向，为了多实现0.20美元而中断技术项目或产品更新增强是愚蠢的事，不应期待我这么做。我们要确保公司日益强大，这就需要持续投资并坚持我们的核心原则。
Christophe Le Caillec
So maybe to add a bit of color on capital, there's not a lot to add as a matter of fact, because you covered most of it. But as you know, Rick, the governor here is our CET1 ratio, that is what will define the amount of share repo that we're going to do and we target between 10% and 11%. We're a little bit on the high side at 10.7%, but you shouldn't read anything in that.
在资本方面补充一点说明，其实不太多，因为你已经涵盖了大部分内容。但正如你所知，我们的治理指标是普通股一级资本比率（CET1），它决定了我们将进行多少股份回购，目标区间为10%至11%。目前位于10.7%，略高一些，但无需过度解读。
And if you look at overtime, we have been at 10.8%, 10.5%. So we're ending up a little bit on the high side at the end of the quarter and that's it, right? But, we distributed exactly the amount that we had in our plans in terms of capital. I will mention though that this is the first quarter where we increased the dividend by 17%.
纵观历史，我们曾在10.8%、10.5%波动。因此本季度末略高也属正常。我们按照计划精确分配了资本。需要提的是，这是我们首次将股息提高了17%。
Operator
运营员
Thank you. The next question is coming from Erika Najarian of UBS. Please go ahead.
谢谢。下一个问题来自瑞银的Erika Najarian，请提问。
Erika Najarian
Hi. Thank you. I just wanted to confirm, the 8% to 10% revenue guide, you said something is effective that now takes into account a 5.7% unemployment rate. I just wanted to confirm that, a, you feel like you can generate 8% to 10% revenue growth even in light of an unemployment rate that we haven't seen in a while.
你好，谢谢。我想确认一下，你们的8%至10%收入指引是基于包含5.7%失业率的假设。能否确认，即便失业率上升至我们已有一段时间未见的水平，你们依然认为能够实现8%至10%的收入增长？
And to that end, I think, Steve, you mentioned that the stock market really didn't impact spend. I'd be curious to understand since your data is so good in terms of how spend progressed January through March, particularly in your affluent consumer segment.
为此，我记得Steve提到股市并未真正影响消费。那么鉴于你们拥有优质数据，请问从一月至三月的消费趋势如何，尤其是高端消费者群体的表现？
As you had mentioned in the last call that January is off to a strong start. And then just wondering whether or not the resilience had sort of carried through, even though we had all the headline risk and stock market volatility in March?
如你在上次电话会议中所述，一月开局强劲。即便三月出现诸多负面头条和股市波动，这种消费韧性是否得以延续？
Stephen Squeri
Yeah. So I'll give you a little color on the spending here. The reality is January, February, and March pretty much looked exactly the same, 0.2% here, 0.2% there. And the first 11, 12 days in April are slightly stronger than that, so it has been consistent. There has been really no movement, really up or down. The only thing I would say is that when you looked at small business, you did see a little bit of a tick-up as we moved into the end of March, but I'm talking minor 0.5 point or something like that. And then you saw a little bit of a pickup in the first 11 days, but we'll see how all that plays out.
好的。我来谈谈消费数据。一月、二月和三月的增速几乎一致，都是上下浮动约0.2%。四月前11天稍微高一点儿，但总体保持稳定，无明显升降。唯一不同的是小企业消费在三月底略有回升，大约0.5个百分点左右，四月前11天也有小幅增长，但还需观察后续走势。
And I think April will be an interesting month because you have Easter and traditionally, you don't have as much corporate spend, you may not have as much small business spend, the retail spend, so forth and so on. So we'll see how April plays out. And last year, Easter was, I think at the end of -- at the end of March. As far as unemployment, look, we have 5.7% incorporated in our macro. I think for us, what -- when we look -- when we really look at unemployment, it's really more white collar unemployment that is more of a driver of potentially spending than it is total overall unemployment, because of how our card base tends to skew.
我认为四月会很有意思，因为有复活节，通常企业支出和小企业采购会减少，零售消费也会有变化，所以要看四月表现。去年复活节是在三月末。至于失业率，我们在宏观模型中已纳入5.7%。但对我们而言，更关注的是白领失业，因为我们的持卡人群体更偏向高收入白领，他们的就业状况更影响消费，而非整体失业率。
So here we watch that -- we'll watch that very carefully, but we feel really comfortable with the -- even though the unemployment level that we have in our outlook is higher than it's been, we feel comfortable with holding the guide at this particular point in time. So, obviously, there'll be more to come as the months go by. But right now from a spend perspective, very consistent and we feel comfortable with the -- I mean, we feel comfortable with the unemployment level as far as our guidance goes.
因此我们会密切关注，但即便所用失业率水平高于以往，我们仍对维持当前指引感到自信。未来几个月会继续观察，但从消费角度看数据非常稳定，我们对所采用的失业率水平和指引持乐观态度。
Christophe Le Caillec
Let me -- maybe Erika, give you a bit more color in terms of how to think about that 5.7%. We thought it would be useful to investors, to analysts to share with you how we've been thinking about their credit reserve. And as you know, we run multiple scenarios. The math is very complicated, it's lifetime losses. So the 5.7% represents the peak unemployment rate for the purpose of this reserve calculation. So it doesn't mean that we are anticipating that tomorrow either unemployment will jump to 5.7% and will stay there for the balance of the year, right? You have to think about it in the context of the CECL calculation.
Erika，我来进一步说明一下5.7%的含义。我们认为向投资者和分析师分享我们的准备金假设很有价值。如您所知，我们会运行多种情景模型，其计算非常复杂，涵盖生命周期损失。5.7%是为准备金计提设定的峰值失业率假设，并不意味着我们预期失业率明天就会升至5.7%并在全年保持高位，而是要结合会计准则CECL进行理解。
Operator
运营员
Thank you. The next question is coming from Jeff Adelson of Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.
谢谢。下一个问题来自摩根士丹利的Jeff Adelson，请提问。
Jeffrey Adelson
Hey, good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. Steve, I know the Millennial and Gen‑Z cohort continues to be a source of strength for Amex. You’re calling out the continued 60% plus of acquisitions, the better FICO and DQs versus industry, and your spend growth is running higher there. But just curious, are you noticing any sort of under the hood issues with that group from things like student (ph) loan repayment starting?
早上好。谢谢回答我的问题。Steve，我知道千禧一代和Z世代群体依然是美国运通的增长动力。你们提到新增客户中超过60%来自这两个群体，他们的FICO和逾期率均优于行业平均，消费增速也更高。但我想了解，随着学贷偿还开始，你们是否发现这一群体在信用或支出方面出现潜在问题？
There’s been some reporting of some servicing issues for that group with the repayment starting. And I’m just wondering if there’s any stats you can give on maybe spend per card or account for that cohort, just given that it’s represented so much of your account growth so far? Thanks.
有报道说因为学贷开始偿还，他们在账户服务上遇到一些问题。鉴于该群体在新增客户中占比很大，你们有没有该群体的人均支出或人均账户消费的相关数据？谢谢。
Stephen Squeri
Yeah. We haven’t seen anything and I’ll just take you back to – we’ll just throw a couple of statistics out. When you look at spend growth for that cohort for the quarter, it was up about 15% in the U.S. consumer business, and it’s representing about 35% of our overall spend. When you look at it internationally, it actually was up 22% in the quarter. So Millennial and Gen‑Z is even a larger contributor internationally.
没有发现相关问题。给你几个数据：这一群体本季度在美国消费者业务中的支出同比增长约15%，占公司总体消费额的约35%；在国际市场则增长22%，因此在国际业务中他们的贡献更大。
I’ll take you back to Investor Day, where we talked about how they continue to grow year‑to‑year, and so, we’re still seeing that. The thing I will point out is that our Millennial – not every Millennial, not every Gen‑Z have our card. As I think I mentioned a little bit earlier, the delinquency rate that we’re seeing is a lot less than what the industry sees. The FICO is a lot higher, and a lot of them tend to be more lower tenure as they come into the – as they come into the franchise, and that delinquency rate is better than it was back pre‑COVID.
回顾投资者日的分享，我们看到这一群体年年增长。需要强调的是，并非所有千禧一代和Z世代都持有我们的卡。正如我先前提到，他们的逾期率远低于行业平均，FICO评分更高，而且许多新用户的持卡时间较短，但逾期率依旧比疫情前更好。
So we don’t disclose the actual card account billings on it and we did disclose it as we did that last – at the Investor Day. And maybe we’ll do that at another point in time. But today, I’m not going to share that because I don’t have it at my fingertips either.
我们不会公开他们的具体消费数据，虽然在投资者日曾披露一次。也许将来会再分享，但现在我手头没备齐，所以暂不提供。
Christophe Le Caillec
So maybe what I can add to those, if you’re looking for numbers, their Millennial and Gen‑Z combined spend about 20% less than the older generation, so they do spend a bit less. They revolve a bit less as well. The other data point that we have shared in the past as well that echoes what Steve just said is that, at acquisition, the average FICO of this cohort is 750 (ph). So very strong, very strong.
我补充一点数据：千禧一代和Z世代的综合消费比上一代低约20%，他们的循环透支也更少。另外，我们此前披露过，该群体获卡时的平均FICO评分为750，表现非常强劲。
Operator
运营员
Thank you. The next question is coming from Craig Maurer of FT Partners. Please go ahead.
谢谢。下一个问题来自FT Partners的Craig Maurer，请提问。
Craig Maurer
Yeah. Thanks. I appreciate you taking the questions. I wanted to go back to something you said it earlier. Investors are spending time hardening their books for what is expected to be a significant change in the economy over the next, sort of, nine months to 12 months. So you had mentioned FICO scores as consumer confidence wealth effect.
谢谢。想回到你刚才提到的观点。投资者都在加固账本，预计未来9至12个月经济将发生重大变化。你提到FICO评分、消费者信心和财富效应。
Not to channel John Wick, but the Boogeyman of the last recession was FICO Creep and – was FICO Creep and companies getting caught thinking they were making better loans, plus with consumer confidence falling and the wealth effect, especially how that might impact the younger cohorts.
并非要模仿《疾速追杀》，但上次衰退的“噩梦”是FICO攀升——公司以为自己在发放更优质贷款，另加消费者信心降温和财富效应收缩，尤其会如何影响年轻群体。
Maybe you can talk about what you’re basing your view on that, that consumer confidence and wealth effect won’t impact spend. And sorry, not sneak this in, but could you also let us know what percentage of SMB build business is related to e‑commerce businesses? Thanks.
能否谈谈你为何认为消费者信心和财富效应不会影响消费？还有一个问题：中小企业的消费业务中，有多少比例来自电商？谢谢。
Stephen Squeri
Yeah. I don’t have your — the sneak in I can’t answer because I don’t have that at my fingertips here either. But I guess that will become potentially more important as time goes on, and so we’ll look into that. Craig, as far as, what we’re basing it on in terms of the wealth effect and consumer confidence, history. The history of our cardholders, I mean it’s just — look, I’ve been here for 40 years and been through 9/11, financial crisis, COVID, and everything else. And the reality is that, that has not been sort of the determining driver from a credit crunch perspective for us.
我无法回答第二个问题，因为我手边也没这数据。不过会去调查。Craig，就财富效应和消费者信心对消费的影响而言，我们基于历史经验评估。我的职业生涯已超40年，经历过9/11、金融危机、疫情等事件，但它们从未成为我们信贷紧缩的主要驱动因素。
So — and again, look, I think, we’ll continue to look at FICO scores. And I think there has been — we’ve said this and I think the industry has said this, there has been an acceleration probably in some of the FICO scores, but it’s not the only thing we look at. It’s an easy metric to talk about. But certainly, that’s not what was in our — it’s not within our models. The only thing in our models, there’s a lot more in our models that go into making credit decisions. But look, we look at historically at what our card base has done and what has impacted our card base. And I would say that white collar unemployment from a credit perspective has probably been our John Wick, if you will, than — more than anything else.
我们会继续关注FICO评分。我认为部分FICO评分确实有所加速，但它只是众多指标之一，不在我们模型的核心。我们的模型更为复杂，决策依据多方面因素。历史上，我们的持卡人消费行为及信用表现告诉我们，白领失业率才是我们最关注的关键风险因素。
Christophe Le Caillec
So I’ll add just one thing, Craig. If you put — if you take a step back away from FICO and you look at, say, delinquency rate, as you would expect, the variability from a credit standpoint is either higher with the low tenure card members. And therefore, we are looking — and that’s why we — in my prepared remarks, I share this new data point for you guys to get an appreciation in terms of how we’re thinking about that credit risk. If you look at the low tenure card members, so those who have been with us less than two years and you look at their delinquency rate today for that — for those balances versus what it was for this same group of customers back in 2019, the delinquency rate of 30% lower, right?
我补充一点：如果撇开FICO，直接看逾期率，低任期客户的信用波动的确更大，因此我们关注他们的风险。我在演讲中分享了一个新数据：与2019年同一组低任期客户相比，目前这部分客户的逾期率下降了约30%。
So that reflects a lot of things, including the SKU that we saw in the preview — in the five, six years, in the previous five, six years, in terms of acquiring premium card members and managing the book very, very carefully. So delinquency rate is just — it’s a good metric to look at, and that looks much better than where we were pre‑COVID. And at that time, we were already best in the industry.
这反映了我们过去五六年在优质客户获取和账本管理上的努力。逾期率是一个很好的衡量指标，如今远优于疫情前水平，而当时我们已位居行业前列。
Operator
运营员
Thank you. The next question is coming from Chris Kennedy of William Blair. Please go ahead.
谢谢。下一个问题来自William Blair的Chris Kennedy，请提问。
Cristopher Kennedy
Good morning. Thanks for taking the question. Steve, you mentioned the acquisition of Center that comes after a string of other deals, whether it's Kabbage, Nipendo, others. Can you just talk about that journey and kind of give a state of the union on the SME technology investments? And then how can that translate into better organic spend over time? Thank you.
上午好，谢谢您提问。Steve，您提到继Kabbage、Nipendo等多项收购后又完成了Center的收购。能否介绍一下这一路的布局，并概述一下您在中小企业（SME）技术投资方面的整体规划？这如何随着时间推移转化为更好的自然消费增长？谢谢。
Stephen Squeri
Yeah. I think, look, what we've been on a journey here is to build more capabilities up for our SME customers. And if you look at it, one of the things that we've said is, we wanted to increase our relevance with our SME customers. And Kabbage has become the platform where we want our SMEs to live that platform, obviously, you have the ability to look at your card information, to do cash flow analysis, to have a checking account, to apply for loans. When you look at One AP and Nipendo, that's really all about automating the B2B piece of it.
是的。我认为，我们的目标是为中小企业客户构建更多能力。正如我们所说，我们希望与中小企业的关联度更高。Kabbage已经成为我们希望他们在上面“落户”的平台，在该平台上他们可以查看卡信息、进行现金流分析、开立支票账户、申请贷款。而One AP和Nipendo则专注于自动化B2B环节。
And then I think one of the things that was missing for us, and we were doing this through partnerships, but it became apparent it needed to be more core to our -- more core to us overall, is the expense management piece. We already have the travel piece with our travel service. And so what we're doing is we're constantly building out on the offerings that we have for our -- for our small -- for our small businesses. How that affects organic spend, I think we'll have to see. But I think what it does, it will certainly help from a retention perspective and an acquisition -- and an acquisition perspective as well.
然后我们发现一个缺口，虽然之前通过合作方式解决，但显然需要更内置于我们的体系中：那就是费用管理模块。我们已有旅行服务这一板块。现在，我们不断扩充面向中小企业的产品组合。从自然消费角度看效果如何还需观察，但毫无疑问，这将对客户留存和获客都带来积极帮助。
I think from an organic perspective, the more we can utilize One AP and Nipendo, the more we can get B2B pay -- more B2B payments in there through that channel. But, we're on a journey, and now it all needs to continue to be knitted together. Obviously, Center is not integrated into the Kabbage solution, but that's -- that into the Kabbage platform. But ultimately, what you will do is you will have one ecosystem where all of these things live.
我认为从自然增长角度看，我们越多地利用One AP和Nipendo，就能通过这一渠道获得更多B2B支付。但我们正处于旅程中，需要将各环节持续整合。显然，Center尚未并入Kabbage解决方案，但最终各项能力都会汇聚到一个生态体系中。
And I think that will help drive more retention, more acquisition, and potentially more organic spending. I mean organic spending traditionally is more of how they're running their businesses and we saw pre-COVID or just during COVID, how all that organic spend went down and then we saw post-COVID how it went up as they stocked up on inventory. So we'll have to see how that plays out. But we're excited about Center and we're excited about the suite of capabilities that we've built out from an SME perspective now.
我认为这将推动更高的留存、更强的获客以及更多的自然消费。传统上，自然消费更多反映他们的经营活动：疫情前或疫情中消费下降，疫情后随着备货又回升。我们拭目以待，但对Center及我们现有的中小企业能力组合充满期待。
Operator
运营员
Thank you. The next question is coming from Terry Ma of Barclays. Please go ahead.
谢谢。下一个问题来自巴克莱的Terry Ma，请提问。
Terry Ma
Hi. Thank you. Good morning.
你好，谢谢。早上好。
Stephen Squeri
Good morning.
早上好。
Terry Ma
Maybe to just follow up on your comments around refresh strategy. You called out about 35 to 50 planned product refreshes for this year, last quarter. And I get that you want to invest in the long-term, and you don't want to stop the refresh strategy. But just given that there's so much macro uncertainty and maybe potential uncertainty around the ROI of those refreshes, do you kind of adjust or delay some of those until there's more clarity? And what does that mean for your marketing budget for the year? Thank you.
想跟进一下关于产品更新策略的讨论。您上季度提到今年计划进行大约35到50次产品更新。理解您希望做长期投资，不想停掉更新策略。但在宏观不确定性高、更新投资回报潜在不明的情况下，是否会对部分更新进行调整或延后，等待更明确的时机？这对今年的市场预算意味着什么？谢谢。
Stephen Squeri
Yeah. So at the moment, no changes to the marketing budget at all. I don't think, the refresh itself, when you're looking at the refresh, I think that as I said before, we haven't stopped refreshes in the phase of even the pandemic. I mean, we were working through our platinum refresh at that particular level and green at that particular point in time. And also working on others behind the scenes because, as I've said before, refreshes don't happen overnight.
目前市场预算完全没有变化。我认为，正如我先前所说，即便在疫情期间，我们也从未停止产品更新。当时我们还在推进白金卡和绿卡的更新，并在暗中进行其他更新项目，因为更新绝非一蹴而就。
Years ago, we got a lot of credit for reacting to the Chase Sapphire, but it's something that we started nine months to 10 months ago. So no, we're not going to stop the refresh strategy. I don't think that from an ROI perspective, there is -- there will be -- there would be what, as I would say a reason to do that, as we go to acquire cards, we look at, where the credit box is at that particular point in time. So we'll see, but that's a -- these refreshes happen over a period of time. So it's hard to stop them once they're in progress, and I think we have a lot of confidence once they're done to put them out into the marketplace.
多年前我们因应Chase Sapphire而大受赞誉，但那是我们9到10个月前就启动的项目。所以，不，我们不会停止更新策略。我不认为在投资回报角度会出现需要停更的理由——我们在获卡时会根据信用标准进行评估。总之，更新需时较久，一旦启动就难以中断，而且一旦完成，我们对投放市场充满信心。
Operator
运营员
Thank you. The next question is coming from Gus Gala of MCH. Please go ahead.
谢谢。下一个问题来自MCH的Gus Gala，请提问。
Gus Gala
Hey. Good morning, Steve. Good morning, Christophe. I wanted to ask around restaurants. It seems like a lot of the work done there has been key in winning Gen‑Z Millennial share versus other premium value props available in North America. How do you think about enhancing the value proposition there? And similar vein, can you talk about other categories or maybe your experiential differentiation where you're not really competing on the rewards, but more like the services to further help capture that Gen‑Z Millennial base? Thanks.
嘿，Steve，早上好。Christophe，早上好。我想问一下餐饮方面的战略。看起来在餐厅领域做了很多工作，这对在北美吸引千禧一代和Z世代相比其他高端产品价值主张起到了关键作用。您如何看待在这一领域提升价值主张？同样地，能否谈谈其他垂直领域，或者在体验差异化方面如何不单纯依靠奖励，而是通过服务来进一步捕获千禧一代和Z世代客户群？谢谢。
Stephen Squeri
Well, Millennials and Gen‑Z are spending way more in restaurants from a transaction perspective than any other cohort that we have.
事实上，从交易量来看，千禧一代和Z世代在餐饮上的消费远高于我们其他任何客户群体。
And if you just look at the refresh strategy, look at what we did with Gold.
如果看看我们的产品更新策略，就会发现我们对金卡所做的调整。
I mean, Gold could have been renamed the restaurant card between the rewards accelerator, the Resy credit, and the Global Dining collection.
金卡其实完全可以称为“餐厅卡”，因为它包含了奖励加速器、Resy信用额度和全球美食系列等核心餐饮功能。
I think, look, you go back to the acquisition of Resy, you go back to the acquisition of Tock, you look at Rooam, all three of those things are really targeted at, sort of, trying to build a moat around a restaurant in — around the restaurant industry, not only from a card member perspective, but also from a restaurant perspective.
回顾我们对Resy、Tock和Rooam的收购，这三项布局都是在餐饮行业周围构建护城河，不仅从卡会员角度，也从餐厅运营者角度出发。
I mean, it is a microcosm of our closed-loop, right?
它其实是我们闭环生态系统的一个缩影。
When you think about what we’ve done with Resy and Tock, and then as we integrate the Rooam capabilities in, it’s a closed-loop within a closed-loop.
当你考虑Resy和Tock的整合，以及即将引入的Rooam功能时，这就是一个闭环中的闭环。
And I think that is — that’s something that’s really appealing to our restaurant customers and it’s also appealing to our card members and especially Millennials and Gen‑Z.
我认为，这对我们的餐厅合作伙伴和卡会员特别是千禧一代与Z世代都有极大吸引力。
Look, we’ll look for other verticals where that makes sense.
当然，我们也会寻求在其他垂直领域复制这一做法。
Look, one would argue that the other verticals where it does make sense with our travel businesses is also with them — with lodging and with airline, right?
可以说，类似的闭环模式在我们的旅行业务中同样适用于酒店和航空领域。
I mean, if you think about it, you look at the Platinum Card and being able to book through Platinum travel services, it’s another example of a closed-loop within.
比如白金卡用户可通过白金旅行服务预订行程，这又是一个闭环示例。
And when you look at the Platinum Card value proposition, with fine hotels and resorts, it is really a way to provide value, especially to our younger customers.
当你审视白金卡与精品酒店和度假村的合作时，这也是为我们的年轻客户群创造价值的方式。
I mean, when you book a fine hotel and resort, the value proposition there is pretty good, right?
预订精品酒店和度假村的附加值是非常直观的，对吧？
I mean it’s early check-in, late check-out, upgrades, free breakfast, $100 credit.
包含提前入住、延迟退房、房型升级、免费早餐和100美元消费额度等权益。
So that’s another example of where we’re connecting our card members with our partners from a hotel perspective, and obviously, we’ve been doing that with airlines for years.
这又是一个将卡会员与酒店合作伙伴对接的例子，显然我们在航空领域也已开展多年类似合作。
So I think when you think about Millennials and Gen‑Z, I think leaning in those areas for them are pretty critical.
因此，对于千禧一代和Z世代客户来说，倾力于这些领域至关重要。
And the Gold card relaunch is a really good example.
金卡的重塑便是一个绝佳示例。
And our partnership with Dunkin was a really good example of really leaning in to the transaction affection that they have for dining and for all things in our dining.
我们与Dunkin的合作也是一个典型，通过这一合作，我们深度贴合了他们对餐饮及相关体验的偏好。
Operator
运营员
Thank you. The next question is coming from Rob Wildhack of Autonomous Research. Please go ahead.
谢谢。下一个问题来自Autonomous Research的Rob Wildhack，请提问。
Robert Wildhack
Good morning, guys. I wanted to follow up a little bit more on the SMB technology side with Kabbage, Center, etc. Steve, I think you mentioned eventually having one ecosystem. Could you speak to the integration effort there? How all these platforms come together? How that looks for the end customer today? And then, when do you expect you could go to market with the full expanded product suite inclusive of Center? Thanks.
早上好。我想进一步追问一下中小企业技术方面的布局，包括Kabbage、Center等。Steve，你提到最终会形成一个生态体系。能否说明整合工作的进展？这些平台如何协同？目前对终端客户意味着什么？以及何时能将包含Center在内的完整产品套件推向市场？谢谢。
Stephen Squeri
Well, we just closed on Center yesterday. So that’s a — it will happen over time here.
我们昨天刚完成对Center的收购，所以整合将在未来逐步推进。
But if you look at — if you’re an SME customer, you go on to the Kabbage platform, you can reach MYCA, which is, if you’re a card holder and a lot of our card holders just do business right now with us through the app anyway, but pre-app, it was through My Card Account.
但若你是中小企业客户，登录Kabbage平台后，即可访问“MYCA”（My Card Account），持卡人目前多直接在App内办理业务，之前则是通过网页版账户管理。
简单清晰的表达，没有专业名词也没有术语。
And so as you go through Kabbage, you can access My Card Account, you can apply for the loan, you can access your transaction checking account. So that’s pretty much there at this point.
因此，通过Kabbage，你既可管理卡账户，也可申请贷款和查看交易明细等，基本功能已就位。
What the next step is, is to really then as we integrate Center on in, is to link that right in. I don’t have an exact time on that.
下一步就是将Center整合进来，并在平台内实现无缝对接。具体时间尚未确定。
As a bank holding company, there are certain hardening that we need to do, let’s say that around the Center project — product and so we’re going to do that.
作为银行控股公司，我们需要对Center进行合规与安全加固工作，这也是整合前的必要步骤。
But part of all of that will be integrating it on into that platform. But again, just to remind everybody, we closed on yesterday.
但这些工作完成后，Center将纳入该平台。再次提醒大家，我们就在昨天完成收购。
Operator
运营员
Thank you. Our final question today is coming from Mihir Bhatia of Bank of America. Please go ahead.
谢谢。我们的最后一个问题来自美银美林的Mihir Bhatia，请提问。
Mihir Bhatia
Hi. Good morning, and thank you for taking my question. Steve and Christophe, you're striking a pretty confident tone on the call today about the outlook in a variety of macro environments. I think you've also talked before about being more confident in achieving the mid‑teens EPS versus maybe some noise in year‑over‑year revenue. So I just wanted to go back to where we started the Q&A, where Sanjay side of the Q&A.
你好，早上好，感谢您回答我的提问。Steve和Christophe，今天的电话会议中，你们在多种宏观环境前景上表现得非常自信。我记得你们也曾表示，对于实现中高位的每股收益比对同比收入更有信心。现在我想回到我们在问答环节开始时Sanay提出的问题。
Can you just talk a little bit more about the cost structure and the potential for cost optimization if things get choppy? Like, I understand there's rewards costs and things like that, that naturally get lower. But big picture, just talk a little bit about the expense flex in the model as you continue to invest? Thanks.
能否再多谈谈成本结构，以及如果环境走高走低，如何进行成本优化？我知道奖励成本会随着消费自然下降。但从整体来看，在持续投资的同时，你们的费用模型具备哪些灵活调整空间？谢谢。
Stephen Squeri
Yeah. I mean, here’s what you can expect. I mean, obviously, you’ve got the story as it relates to rewards and as it relates to sort of cost of card member services, as spending goes down, those go down. From a technology perspective, we’re not going to veer off our technology plan. I mean, it just doesn’t make any sense to stop and start from a technology perspective.
好的，我来说明一下。显然，奖励成本和持卡人服务成本会随着消费下降而减少。在技术方面，我们不会偏离既定计划；从技术角度来看，停止或中断长期项目没有意义。
Our marketing budget is a lot bigger than it ever has been. And in an environment of uncertainty, you would raise the thresholds. You may not have as much line of sight into the credit box as you’d like to have. And so, there’s a tremendous amount of expense flexibility within that line, and there’s expense flexibility within our OpEx line as well.
我们的市场预算已创历史新高。在不确定环境中，我们会提高信审门槛，也可能暂时放缓获客节奏。因此，营销支出具有极大的灵活调整空间，运营费用同样如此。
But what we will not do, as I said earlier and I started this way, we’re not going to just cut expenses to make the EPS number, if we see good opportunities for growth.
但我们绝不会仅为完成每股收益目标就削减关键投资，若出现良好增长机会，我们仍将积极投入。
And one of the things that we did during COVID was, we really ratcheted back on acquisition tremendously because we didn’t have good line of sight into creditworthy card holders. But what we did do is, we pivoted a large percentage of that money and added incremental value to our value propositions at that particular point in time, which the end result of that was two‑fold.
回顾疫情期间，由于信用可见性不足，我们大幅收紧了获客投入。但我们将节省下的预算重新分配，用于增强价值主张，取得了双重效果：
Number one, it led to higher retention for us, and it led to more stickiness in terms of where we actually made those value proposition investments.
第一，显著提高了客户留存率；第二，在我们进行价值投入的领域里，客户粘性更强。
And so, we’ll play the whole thing out. But again, quarter‑to‑quarter, year‑to‑year, it’s about really investing for the long‑term here and making the right longer term decisions, but there is flex in the model as it relates to marketing and as it relates to OpEx.
因此，我们会根据形势推进所有工作。从季度到年度，我们都会以长期视角进行战略投资，但营销和运营费用方面的确具备灵活调整能力。
Kartik Ramachandran
With that, we will bring the call to an end. Thank you again for joining today's call and for your continued interest in American Express. The IR team will be available for any follow-up questions. Operator, back to you.
至此，我们将结束本次电话会议。再次感谢大家参加今天的电话会议并持续关注美国运通。投资者关系团队随时准备回答后续问题。运营员，交还给您。
Operator
运营员
Ladies and gentlemen, the webcast replay will be available on our Investor Relations website at ir.americanexpress.com shortly after the call. You can also access a digital replay of the call at 877-660-6853 or 201-612-7415, access code 13752401 after 1:00 PM Eastern Time on April 17 through April 24. That will conclude our conference call for today. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.
女士们、先生们，电话会议网络重播将在我们的投资者关系网站 ir.americanexpress.com 上发布。您也可致电 877‑660‑6853 或 201‑612‑7415，使用回放代码 13752401，在美国东部时间4月17日下午1点至4月24日收听数字回放。至此，本次电话会议结束。感谢您的参与，您现在可以挂断电话。
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