Amex: Organic Growth of Small Businesses Has Slowed

“…when we look at small business, I think the biggest thing there from a small business perspective is really the organic growth. I think organic growth has slowed,” said Amex CEO Steve Squeri in the company’s Q2 earnings call. Squeri said that this wasn’t just something that Amex was seeing but more of an industry phenomenon.

“…what you saw through the pandemic, is you saw small businesses continue to add and add and add, and you got to remember small businesses use a card to run their entire business,” Squeri said, “and so, there was a lot of buying ahead from a goods and services perspective, from an inventory perspective.”

Delinquencies have been flat at Amex, however, and still remain below pre-covid levels, a feat attributed to the company having made proper adjustments from a risk management perspective.

Squeri said he believes the organic growth will eventually rebound.

“…after the slowdown comes the recovery,” he said.

Business Blueprint, the rebrand of the Kabbage business it acquired, was not mentioned by name in the company’s earnings presentation or 10-Q.