DBRS Assigns A (high) to American Express National Bank; Trend Stable

DBRS, Inc. (DBRS) assigned ratings to American Express National Bank (AENB), including a Long-Term Issuer Rating of A (high) and a Short-Term Issuer Rating of R-1 (middle). The trend for all ratings is Stable. As a subsidiary of American Express Company (Amex or the Company, rated A (high) with a Stable trend), AENB’s Intrinsic Assessment (IA) is A (high), while its Support Assessment is SA1. In addition, DBRS has withdrawn all the ratings of American Express Centurion Bank and American Express Bank, FSB.

KEY RATING CONSIDERATIONS
The rating actions follow the conversion of American Express Centurion Bank from a Utah-chartered industrial bank to a national bank under the title AENB, as well as the subsequent merger of American Express Bank, FSB into AENB, with an effective date of April 1, 2018. AENB will remain an operating subsidiary of American Express Travel Related Services. DBRS notes that the ratings of the Company and its other subsidiaries are unaffected by these actions.

RATING DRIVERS
Given the high rating level for a finance company, upward ratings pressure is unlikely over the near-term. Meanwhile, a sustained deterioration in financial results, reflecting diminishing competitive positioning due to aggressive competition, new disruptive technologies or regulatory mandates, could result to downward ratings pressures. A notable and sustained deterioration in credit performance, liquidity or regulatory capital levels could also have negative implications for the ratings.

Notes:
All figures are in U.S. Dollars unless otherwise noted.

The applicable methodologies are the Global Methodology for Rating Finance Companies (November 2017), Global Methodology for Rating Banks and Banking Organisations (May 2017) and DBRS Criteria: Rating Corporate Holding Companies and Their Subsidiaries (December 2017), which can be found on our website under Methodologies.

The primary sources of information used for this rating include company documents and SNL Financial. DBRS considers the information available to it for the purposes of providing this rating was of satisfactory quality.

This rating is endorsed by DBRS Ratings Limited for use in the European Union.

Lead Analyst: Yanni Koulouriotis, CFA, Vice President – Global FIG
Rating Committee Chair: Michael Driscoll, Managing Director, Head of NA FIG – Global FIG
Initial Rating Date: May 2, 2008
Most Recent Rating Update: September 28, 2017

The rated entity or its related entities did participate in the rating process. DBRS had access to the accounts and other relevant internal documents of the rated entity or its related entities.

For more information on this credit or on this industry, visit www.dbrs.com.