American Express has agreed to acquire Hypercard (Hyper), an agentic expense management company, to expand its AI capabilities across its commercial services business.

The financial services company said the deal will bring Hyper’s team of AI specialists into the business, supporting development of agent-based tools and AI-powered solutions designed to automate expense management and simplify business operations.

The acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026, subject to customary conditions.

Founded in 2022, Hyper focuses on using AI agents to automate expense workflows. Its technology can automatically categorise expenses, check them against company budgets and policies, and prompt employees to submit outstanding claims.

American Express said these capabilities will support its plans to embed next-generation AI functionality into its commercial products, including a new expense management platform due to launch later this year.

The acquisition builds on an existing partnership between the two companies. In 2024, they jointly launched the Hypercard Rewards American Express card, which integrated AI-powered expense agents built on American Express’s Agile Partner Platform.

The move forms part of a broader strategy to integrate AI across American Express’s business services offering. The company said it plans to deploy AI-driven tools to help businesses automate administrative tasks and improve operational efficiency, particularly in areas such as expense management and financial controls.

American Express added that demand for smarter expense management is growing as organisations look to reduce manual processes and improve visibility over spending. By bringing Hyper’s technology in-house, the company said it hopes to accelerate development of agent-based capabilities within its commercial card and software ecosystem.

“Our customers want smarter, more efficient ways to manage expenses so they can focus on what's next for their business, and AI has the potential to transform the way businesses get things done,” said Raymond Joabar, group president of global commercial services at American Express. “We’re thrilled to welcome Hyper, a team with deep expertise in designing and deploying AI agents, as we build next-generation AI capabilities into our products and services, including our expense management platform launching later this year.”

Earlier this week, American Express unveiled a developer toolkit designed to support agentic AI-driven payments, alongside what it describes as an industry-first protection policy covering purchases made by authorised AI agents.

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