American Express India Case Study

My answer: win the top of the market on service and travel value, and partner for the QR moment instead of fighting it.

What happened

Date	Event
Jul 2026	UPI carries 77.3% of digital merchant payment value; credit cards 17.7%, down from 19.8% a year earlier (Equirus, via Kotak Neo)
Oct 2025	RBI fines American Express Banking Corp ₹31.80 lakh for not refunding credit balances left on some cards after refunds or failed transactions (RBI)
Oct 2025	RuPay credit cards on UPI reach about 38% of all credit card transactions by volume, about 8% by value (Bernstein, via Mint)
24 Aug 2022	RBI lifts the restriction after "satisfactory compliance" with data storage rules, about 15 months later (Business Standard)
Jun 2022	RBI lifts a similar restriction on Mastercard
2022	RBI allows RuPay credit cards, and only RuPay, to be linked to UPI
1 May 2021	RBI order of 23 April 2021 takes effect: no new domestic customers on the Amex network; existing customers keep being served
6 Apr 2018	RBI circular requires payment data to be stored only in India (compliance from October 2018)

The structural problem

Amex runs a closed loop. It issues the card, runs the network and signs up merchants. That gives it rich data and control of the experience, but it must build acceptance itself.
The everyday payment moved to the QR code. Small, frequent spends happen on UPI, where only RuPay credit cards can run.
Regulation shapes the field. Data localisation cost Amex 15 months of new customers. UPI exclusivity for RuPay keeps global networks out of the fastest-growing payment habit.

Options

Option	Upside	Downside
Double down on premium travel and lifestyle	Plays to Amex's brand and high spend per card	Small market; heavy reward cost
Co-brand with an Indian bank to issue a RuPay companion card for UPI	Gives Amex customers rewards on daily QR spends	Shares economics and the customer relationship
Push merchant acceptance in premium categories (travel, dining, luxury retail)	Fixes the "is Amex accepted here?" doubt	Slow and costly in a QR-first merchant base
Lead on servicing and dispute experience	Turns compliance into a selling point, after the 2025 penalty	Hard to market; benefits show slowly

My recommendation

Combine the first two options: keep the premium core, and add a RuPay companion through a bank partner so cardholders earn points on daily QR spends. This is the same "credit on QR" product in my UPI × Credit project. Back it with the servicing play: automatic credit-balance refunds and a visible dispute tracker, the fix behind my dispute tracker prototype.

Metric	Role
Share of cardholder's monthly spend captured	North star
Active days per month per cardholder	Engagement
Complaints per 10,000 cards	Guardrail

This case study uses public reporting only and is my own analysis. It does not reflect American Express's plans.