AMERICAN EXPRESS CO 10-K form for the fiscal year ended 2023-12-31, page 43: 
TABLE 1: SUMMARY OF FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE
|    |                                                                          |         |         |         |      |         |               |         |               |     |        |       |         |    |    |      |    |        |     |    |
|---:|:-------------------------------------------------------------------------|:--------|:--------|:--------|:-----|:--------|:--------------|:--------|:--------------|:----|:-------|:------|:--------|:---|:---|:-----|:---|:-------|:----|:---|
|  1 | Years Ended December 31,                                                 |         |         |         |      |         | Change        |         | Change        |     |        |       |         |    |    |      |    |        |     |    |
|  2 | (Millions, except percentages, per share amounts and where indicated)    | 2023    |         | 2022    |      | 2021    | 2023 vs. 2022 |         | 2022 vs. 2021 |     |        |       |         |    |    |      |    |        |     |    |
|  3 | Selected Income Statement Data                                           |         |         |         |      |         |               |         |               |     |        |       |         |    |    |      |    |        |     |    |
|  4 | Total revenues net of interest expense                                   | $       | 60,515  |         | $    | 52,862  | $             | 42,380  |               | $   | 7,653  |       |         | 14 | %  |      | $  | 10,482 | 25  | %  |
|  5 | Provisions for credit losses                                             | 4,923   |         | 2,182   |      | (1,419) | 2,741         |         |               | #   |        | 3,601 |         |    | #  |      |    |        |     |    |
|  6 | Total expenses                                                           | 45,079  |         | 41,095  |      | 33,110  | 3,984         |         |               | 10  |        |       | 7,985   |    |    | 24   |    |        |     |    |
|  7 | Pretax income                                                            | 10,513  |         | 9,585   |      | 10,689  | 928           |         |               | 10  |        |       | (1,104) |    |    | (10) |    |        |     |    |
|  8 | Income tax provision                                                     | 2,139   |         | 2,071   |      | 2,629   | 68            |         |               | 3   |        |       | (558)   |    |    | (21) |    |        |     |    |
|  9 | Net income                                                               | 8,374   |         | 7,514   |      | 8,060   | 860           |         |               | 11  |        |       | (546)   |    |    | (7)  |    |        |     |    |
| 10 | Earnings per common share - diluted (a)                                  | $       | 11.21   |         | $    | 9.85    | $             | 10.02   |               | $   | 1.36   |       |         | 14 | %  |      | $  | (0.17) | (2) | %  |
| 12 | Selected Balance Sheet Data                                              |         |         |         |      |         |               |         |               |     |        |       |         |    |    |      |    |        |     |    |
| 13 | Cash and cash equivalents                                                | $       | 46,596  |         | $    | 33,914  | $             | 22,028  |               | $   | 12,682 |       |         | 37 | %  |      | $  | 11,886 | 54  | %  |
| 14 | Card Member receivables                                                  | 60,411  |         | 57,613  |      | 53,645  | 2,798         |         |               | 5   |        |       | 3,968   |    |    | 7    |    |        |     |    |
| 15 | Card Member loans                                                        | 125,995 |         | 107,964 |      | 88,562  | 18,031        |         |               | 17  |        |       | 19,402  |    |    | 22   |    |        |     |    |
| 16 | Customer deposits                                                        | 129,144 |         | 110,239 |      | 84,382  | 18,905        |         |               | 17  |        |       | 25,857  |    |    | 31   |    |        |     |    |
| 17 | Long-term debt                                                           | $       | 47,866  |         | $    | 42,573  | $             | 38,675  |               | $   | 5,293  |       |         | 12 | %  |      | $  | 3,898  | 10  | %  |
| 19 | Common Share Statistics (b)                                              |         |         |         |      |         |               |         |               |     |        |       |         |    |    |      |    |        |     |    |
| 20 | Cash dividends declared per common share                                 | $       | 2.40    |         | $    | 2.08    | $             | 1.72    |               | $   | 0.32   |       |         | 15 | %  |      | $  | 0.36   | 21  | %  |
| 21 | Average common shares outstanding:                                       |         |         |         |      |         |               |         |               |     |        |       |         |    |    |      |    |        |     |    |
| 22 | Basic                                                                    | 735     |         | 751     |      | 789     | (16)          |         |               | (2) | %      |       | (38)    |    |    | (5)  | %  |        |     |    |
| 23 | Diluted                                                                  | 736     |         | 752     |      | 790     | (16)          |         |               | (2) | %      |       | (38)    |    |    | (5)  | %  |        |     |    |
| 25 | Selected Metrics and Ratios                                              |         |         |         |      |         |               |         |               |     |        |       |         |    |    |      |    |        |     |    |
| 26 | Network volumes (Billions)                                               | $       | 1,680.1 |         | $    | 1,552.8 | $             | 1,284.2 |               | $   | 127    |       |         | 8  | %  |      | $  | 269    | 21  | %  |
| 27 | Billed business (Billions)                                               | $       | 1,459.6 |         | $    | 1,338.3 | $             | 1,089.8 |               | $   | 121    |       |         | 9  | %  |      | $  | 249    | 23  | %  |
| 28 | Card Member loans and receivables                                        |         |         |         |      |         |               |         |               |     |        |       |         |    |    |      |    |        |     |    |
| 29 | Net write-off rate - principal, interest and fees (c)                    | 2.0     | %       |         | 1.0  | %       | 0.8           | %       |               |     |        |       |         |    |    |      |    |        |     |    |
| 30 | Net write-off rate - principal only - consumer and small business (c)(d) | 1.8     | %       |         | 0.9  | %       | 0.7           | %       |               |     |        |       |         |    |    |      |    |        |     |    |
| 31 | 30+ days past due as a % of total - consumer and small business (e)      | 1.3     | %       |         | 1.1  | %       | 0.7           | %       |               |     |        |       |         |    |    |      |    |        |     |    |
| 32 | Effective tax rate                                                       | 20.3    | %       |         | 21.6 | %       | 24.6          | %       |               |     |        |       |         |    |    |      |    |        |     |    |
| 35 | Return on average equity (f)                                             | 31.5    | %       |         | 32.3 | %       | 33.7          | %       |               |     |        |       |         |    |    |      |    |        |     |    |
| 36 | Common Equity Tier 1                                                     | 10.5    | %       |         | 10.3 | %       | 10.5          | %       |               |     |        |       |         |    |    |      |    |        |     |    |
| 44 | # Denotes a variance of 100 percent or more                              |         |         |         |      |         |               |         |               |     |        |       |         |    |    |      |    |        |     |    |
(a)Represents net income, less (i) earnings allocated to participating share awards of $64 million, $57 million and $56 million for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively, (ii) dividends on preferred shares of $58 million, $57 million and $71 million for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively, and (iii) equity-related adjustments of $16 million related to the redemption of preferred shares for the year ended December 31, 2021. Refer to Note 16 and Note 21 to the "Consolidated Financial Statements" for further details on preferred shares and earnings per common share (EPS), respectively.
(b)Our common stock trades principally on The New York Stock Exchange under the trading symbol AXP.
(c)We present a net write-off rate based on principal losses only (i.e., excluding interest and/or fees) to be consistent with industry convention. In addition, as our practice is to include uncollectible interest and/or fees as part of our total provision for credit losses, a net write-off rate including principal, interest and/or fees is also presented.
(d)A net write-off rate based on principal losses only is not available for corporate receivables due to system constraints.
(e)For corporate receivables, delinquency data is tracked based on days past billing status rather than days past due. Refer to Table 12 for 90+ days past billing metrics for corporate receivables.
(f)Return on average equity (ROE) is calculated by dividing (i) net income for the period by (ii) average shareholders' equity for the period.
43




, Discover Financial Services 10-K form for the fiscal year ended 2023-12-31, page 57: The following table presents segment data (dollars in millions):|    |                                  |                                  |        |      |        |      |        |        |    |       |
|---:|:---------------------------------|:---------------------------------|:-------|:-----|:-------|:-----|:-------|:-------|:---|:------|
|  1 |                                  | For the Years Ended December 31, |        |      |        |      |        |        |    |       |
|  2 |                                  | 2023                             |        | 2022 |        | 2021 |        |        |    |       |
|  3 | Digital Banking                  |                                  |        |      |        |      |        |        |    |       |
|  4 | Interest income                  |                                  |        |      |        |      |        |        |    |       |
|  5 | Credit card loans                | $                                | 14,438 |      |        | $    | 10,632 |        | $  | 8,717 |
|  6 | Private student loans            | 1,033                            |        |      | 831    |      |        | 742    |    |       |
|  7 | Personal loans                   | 1,156                            |        |      | 872    |      |        | 878    |    |       |
|  8 | Other loans                      | 326                              |        |      | 167    |      |        | 114    |    |       |
|  9 | Other interest income            | 892                              |        |      | 362    |      |        | 200    |    |       |
| 10 | Total interest income            | 17,845                           |        |      | 12,864 |      |        | 10,651 |    |       |
| 11 | Interest expense                 | 4,746                            |        |      | 1,865  |      |        | 1,134  |    |       |
| 12 | Net interest income              | 13,099                           |        |      | 10,999 |      |        | 9,517  |    |       |
| 13 | Provision for credit losses      | 6,018                            |        |      | 2,359  |      |        | 218    |    |       |
| 14 | Other income                     | 2,311                            |        |      | 2,118  |      |        | 1,745  |    |       |
| 15 | Other expense                    | 5,822                            |        |      | 5,049  |      |        | 4,549  |    |       |
| 16 | Income before income taxes       | 3,570                            |        |      | 5,709  |      |        | 6,495  |    |       |
| 17 | Payment Services                 |                                  |        |      |        |      |        |        |    |       |
| 20 | Other income                     | 450                              |        |      | 176    |      |        | 789    |    |       |
| 21 | Other expense                    | 194                              |        |      | 167    |      |        | 256    |    |       |
| 22 | Income before income taxes       | 256                              |        |      | 9      |      |        | 533    |    |       |
| 23 | Total income before income taxes | $                                | 3,826  |      |        | $    | 5,718  |        | $  | 7,028 |
The following table presents information on transaction volume (dollars in millions):
|    |                                         |                                  |         |      |         |      |         |         |    |         |
|---:|:----------------------------------------|:---------------------------------|:--------|:-----|:--------|:-----|:--------|:--------|:---|:--------|
|  1 |                                         | For the Years Ended December 31, |         |      |         |      |         |         |    |         |
|  2 |                                         | 2023                             |         | 2022 |         | 2021 |         |         |    |         |
|  3 | Network Transaction Volume              |                                  |         |      |         |      |         |         |    |         |
|  4 | PULSE Network                           | $                                | 285,616 |      |         | $    | 253,072 |         | $  | 247,913 |
|  5 | Network Partners                        | 39,671                           |         |      | 44,542  |      |         | 40,707  |    |         |
|  6 | Diners Club(1)                          | 39,299                           |         |      | 33,505  |      |         | 25,937  |    |         |
|  7 | Total Payment Services                  | 364,586                          |         |      | 331,119 |      |         | 314,557 |    |         |
|  8 | Discover Network - Proprietary(2)       | 224,572                          |         |      | 218,738 |      |         | 188,960 |    |         |
|  9 | Total Network Transaction Volume        | $                                | 589,158 |      |         | $    | 549,857 |         | $  | 503,517 |
| 10 | Transactions Processed on Networks      |                                  |         |      |         |      |         |         |    |         |
| 11 | Discover Network                        | 3,728                            |         |      | 3,617   |      |         | 3,259   |    |         |
| 12 | PULSE Network                           | 7,705                            |         |      | 6,200   |      |         | 5,632   |    |         |
| 13 | Total Transaction Processed on Networks | 11,433                           |         |      | 9,817   |      |         | 8,891   |    |         |
| 14 | Credit Card Volume                      |                                  |         |      |         |      |         |         |    |         |
| 15 | Discover Card Volume(3)                 | $                                | 232,785 |      |         | $    | 224,477 |         | $  | 192,755 |
| 16 | Discover Card Sales Volume(4)           | $                                | 217,914 |      |         | $    | 210,645 |         | $  | 182,125 |

(1)Diners Club volume is derived from data provided by licensees for Diners Club branded cards issued outside North America and is subject to subsequent revision or amendment.
(2)Represents gross Discover card sales volume on the Discover Network.
(3)Represents Discover card activity related to sales net of returns, balance transfers, cash advances and other activity.
(4)Represents Discover card activity related to sales net of returns.
-57-






Question: What the growth in the network volumes of American Express for the years 2021 to 2023? Compare its performance to that of Discover Financial Services for the same period.
Answer: American Express Network Volumes Growth:
For American Express, network volumes have shown consistent growth over the past three years. In 2021, network volumes were $1,284.2 billion. This increased to $1,552.8 billion in 2022, reflecting a growth rate of 21%. By 2023, network volumes further rose to $1,680.1 billion, marking an additional growth of 8% from the previous year. Overall, from 2021 to 2023, American Express experienced a cumulative growth of 31%.

Discover Financial Services Network Volumes:
In contrast, Discover Financial Services reported network transaction volumes as follows: $503,517 million in 2021, $549,857 million in 2022, and $589,158 million in 2023. This translates to a growth rate of 9% from 2021 to 2022, and an additional 7% growth from 2022 to 2023. The total growth over the three-year period was approximately 17%.

Comparison:
When comparing the growth rates, American Express's network volumes grew by 31% over the three years, which is significantly higher than Discover Financial Services’ 17% growth. American Express achieved a higher growth rate, indicating a stronger expansion in network transaction volumes compared to Discover Financial Services. This reflects American Express’s robust performance and increasing market presence relative to its industry peer.