American Express & UPS Team Up to Boost SMBs During Holiday Season

American Express Company AXP and UPS have announced a strategic partnership aimed at boosting efficiency at the intersection of logistics and payments. This collaboration aims to provide businesses, especially small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), with integrated solutions that streamline the shipping and payment process.

This partnership offers new and exclusive benefits via American Express’ Business Savings Suite. SMBs using AXP can now take advantage of additional benefits and tiered savings on UPS air, ground and international shipping. This initiative comes at a crucial time when many small businesses are under pressure to control cash flow, inventory and growing demand during the peak season.

This collaboration broadens AXP’s footprint beyond traditional payments and supports its goal of meeting the comprehensive needs of business clients. By integrating financial services into UPS’ ecosystem, AXP can potentially deepen its interaction with customers who mainly depend on shipping and international trade. Its network volume rose 6% year over year in the first half of 2025, along with 8% growth in total revenue net of interest expense.

Looking ahead, the success of this partnership will depend on how well it is executed and how quickly it is adopted. This move reflects AXP’s strategy of blending payments with business solutions. By teaming up with UPS and aligning with its vast logistics network, the company can strengthen its loyalty with merchants.

How Are Competitors Faring?

Some of AXP’s competitors in the payments space include Mastercard Incorporated MA and Visa Inc. V.

Mastercard’s payment network net revenues increased 13% year over year in the first half of 2025, along with 15% growth on a local currency basis in cross-border volumes. Mastercard reported 16% year-over-year growth in net revenues in the same period.

Visa’s payment volume rose 8% year over year in the third quarter of fiscal 2025, along with 12% growth in total cross-border volume. Visa’s net revenues increased 14% year over year in the same quarter.

American Express’ Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates

Shares of AXP have risen 9% in the year-to-date period compared with the industry’s growth of 3.9%.

From a valuation standpoint, American Express trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 19.29X, down from the industry average of 24.57X. AXP carries a Value Score of C.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for American Express’ 2025 earnings is pegged at $15.27 per share, implying a 14.4% jump from the year-ago period.

AXP currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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