By Sachin Mohan · AIM Media House
American Express announced on April 16 an agreement to acquire Hypercard, known as Hyper, an AI-native expense management startup that automates the workflows most corporate card users still complete manually.
The deal, which is expected to close within the second quarter of 2026, brings a team of AI specialists into American Express's Global Commercial Services division. Hyper was founded in 2022 with backing from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
Its core product uses AI agents to handle the end-to-end expense filing process, automatically categorizing charges, checking them against company budgets and policy limits, generating reports, and prompting employees when submissions are overdue.
The company describes its approach as transforming expense management from a manual process into autonomous workflows, removing the friction that typically sits between a transaction and its reconciliation. The deal is not the first time the two companies have worked together.
In 2024, American Express and Hyper jointly launched the Hypercard Rewards American Express card, which embedded Hyper's AI-powered expense agents directly into the card program through its Agile Partner Platform.
That partnership gave Amex a direct view of how Hyper's agents performed in a live commercial card environment before committing to a full acquisition, according to the press release. .
Raymond Joabar, Group President of Global Commercial Services at American Express, framed the acquisition as the next step in building out an AI-native commercial offering.
"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," Joabar said.
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