American Express Company vs Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A.: Strategic Comparison

This in-depth comparison examines American Express Company and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. across revenue, market value, business model, competitive positioning, and long-term growth strategy. Whether you are researching American Express Company on its own, evaluating Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A., or weighing the two companies side by side, the breakdown below highlights where each company leads and where the gap between American Express Company and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. is widest.

On the headline numbers, American Express Company reports annual revenue of $72.2B against ~$41.7B for Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A., while their respective market capitalizations stand at $205.8B and $139.7B. American Express Company is headquartered in United States and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. in Spain, and those different home markets shape how each company competes.

American Express Company: American Express is a payments company that sells access to its own card members. It does not rent its network to thousands of issuing banks the way Visa and Mastercard do; it issues the cards, signs the merchants and keeps the discount fee. In FY2025 it carried $1,897.0 billion of network volumes, had 152.8 million cards in force worldwide including 86.6 million it issues itself, and reported $72.2 billion in total revenues net of interest expense. The premium lineup runs from the Green Card up through the Gold Card at $325 a year, the Platinum Card at $895 after its September 2025 refresh, and the invitation-only Centurion Card, whose fee the company does not publish.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A.: BBVA is a Spanish banking group that earns more abroad than at home. It is Spain's second-largest bank, but Mexico produced ~$5.95B (EUR5.264B) of its ~$11.9B (EUR10.511B) net attributable profit in 2025, with Turkey, Colombia, Peru, Argentina, Uruguay and a corporate and investment banking arm making up the rest. The group employed 127,174 people at the end of 2025 and served 81.2 million active customers.

American Express Company and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. pursue distinct approaches to generating revenue, and understanding how each company operates is the foundation of any fair comparison between American Express Company and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A..

American Express Company business model: American Express runs a closed-loop payments business: it issues the card, owns the network, underwrites the credit and contracts with the merchant. Visa and Mastercard only move the transaction between an issuing bank and an acquiring bank, so they never see both sides of a purchase. Because Amex holds every side of the relationship, it keeps the whole merchant discount fee rather than sharing it, and in FY2025 discount revenue equalled 2.24 percent of the $1,669.8 billion its card members billed. The trade-off is price: merchants pay more to accept Amex than to accept an open-loop card, so the company has to justify the rate with card members who spend more. Average spending per proprietary basic card member was $25,453 in 2025. Amex funds that proposition with annual fees, which reached $10.0 billion in net card fees in FY2025 at an average of $117 per proprietary card, and spends the money back on Membership Rewards, the Centurion Lounge network, Resy and Tock dining access and service. Since converting to a bank holding company in 2008 it has also lent against card balances through American Express National Bank, producing $17.4 billion of net interest income in FY2025.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. business model: BBVA runs a universal banking model built on local subsidiaries that fund themselves with local deposits, so a shock in one country does not drain the parent. Customer deposits reached ~$568B (EUR502.5B) at the end of 2025 against ~$534B (EUR472.7B) of gross loans, and net interest income of ~$29.7B (EUR26.280B) provided about 71 percent of gross income. Fees from payments, cards, asset management and insurance added ~$9.28B (EUR8.215B) and net trading income ~$3B (EUR2.656B). Distribution is mostly digital: 81.2 million active customers were served through 5,642 branches and 31,015 ATMs, and the efficiency ratio of 38.8 percent is one of the lowest among large European banks.

The durability of a company's moat often decides long-term winners. Here is how the competitive advantages of American Express Company stack up against those of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A..

American Express Company competitive advantage: American Express competes on the spending power of its card members rather than on price or ubiquity. Average spending per proprietary basic card member was $25,453 in 2025, which is the argument it makes to merchants who pay a higher discount rate, an average of 2.24 percent of billed business. Owning both sides of the transaction also gives it card member and merchant data that open-loop networks do not hold, which feeds underwriting and targeted offers. Credit outcomes reflect the customer mix: a 2.0 percent net write-off rate on consumer and small business loans and receivables in 2025, with 1.3 percent of balances 30 or more days past due.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. competitive advantage: BBVA's first advantage is scale in Mexico, where BBVA Mexico is the largest bank in the country and produced ~$5.95B (EUR5.264B) of net attributable profit in 2025, close to half the group total. The second is cost: operating expenses grew 1.0 percent in euros in 2025 while gross income grew 4.1 percent, holding the efficiency ratio at 38.8 percent with a branch network trimmed to 5,642 offices. Group ROTE of 19.3 percent is a level BBVA describes as leading among large European banks.

Future prospects matter as much as current results. The growth strategies below explain how American Express Company and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. each plan to expand from here.

American Express Company growth strategy: Amex's growth strategy is aggressively focused on capturing the next generation of wealthy spenders: Millennials and Gen Z. They have successfully revamped their well-known Platinum and Gold cards with perks tailored specifically for younger demographics (like Uber credits and dining rewards), resulting in rapid growth among younger cohorts. Additionally, they are heavily targeting small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), aggressively expanding their corporate card and B2B payment processing services to capture large commercial spending volumes.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. growth strategy: After the Banco Sabadell offer lapsed in October 2025, BBVA's growth plan rests on organic lending, digital expansion in Europe and capital returns. Loans and advances to customers grew 11.5 percent in 2025 and customer funds 13.5 percent. The group opened a branch-free digital bank in Italy in October 2021, which passed 800,000 customers by its fourth anniversary and targets one million during 2026, and launched a second digital bank in Germany in June 2025. Capital released by the 2021 transfer of BBVA USA to PNC still underpins buybacks and dividends, with half of 2025 profit earmarked for shareholders.

A closer look at the financial trajectory of American Express Company and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. rounds out the comparison.

American Express Company: American Express reported $72.2 billion in total revenues net of interest expense for FY2025, up 10 percent, and $10.8 billion of net income, or $15.38 per diluted share. The mix is less fee-only than its premium image suggests: discount revenue on merchant transactions was $37.4 billion, net interest income on card member loans was $17.4 billion, net card fees were $10.0 billion and service fees and other revenue were $7.5 billion. Growth in 2025 came disproportionately from the two smaller lines, with net card fees up 18 percent and net interest income up 12 percent against 6 percent growth in discount revenue. Return on average equity was 33.9 percent, the net write-off rate on consumer and small business loans and receivables was 2.0 percent, and the company declared $3.28 per share in dividends while average diluted shares fell from 713 million to 696 million.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A.: BBVA's profit is spread across five business areas. In 2025 Spain contributed ~$4.72B (EUR4.175B) of net attributable profit, Mexico ~$5.95B (EUR5.264B), Turkey ~$910M (EUR805M), South America ~$820M (EUR726M) and Rest of Business ~$709M (EUR627M), while the Corporate Center recorded a ~$1.23B (EUR1.086B) loss. Gross income rose 4.1 percent in reported euros but 16.3 percent at constant exchange rates, the gap being mostly the weaker Mexican peso. Loan-loss impairments were ~$6.86B (EUR6.073B) with a cost of risk of 1.39 percent, and the NPL ratio improved to 2.7 percent with 85 percent coverage. CET1 capital closed at 12.70 percent against a 9.28 percent requirement, and BBVA set total 2025 shareholder distributions at 50 percent of profit, EUR0.92 per share in cash.