American Express
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40 free American Express trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
American Express is older than the telephone and the light bulb. It began in the age of horse-drawn wagons, carrying parcels and cash between towns, and only much later became the name on one of the world's best-known cards. That long life has left a trail of surprising stories. This quiz covers the founders and the other companies they built, the inventions that made the brand a fixture of holidays abroad, the cards themselves, the famous faces in the advertising, and the deals, sponsorships and scandals along the way. It is pitched at curious players as much as cardholders. You do not need a finance background, just a memory for brands, adverts and a little American business history.
30 of 40 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which TV channel was launched in 1981 by a cable venture half-owned by American Express?
MTV
MTV came from Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, the cable venture American Express formed with Warner Communications in 1979. The same partnership ran Nickelodeon until American Express sold its half in 1985.
Q 02The first American Express cards, issued to customers in 1958, were made of which material?
Paper
Paper was all the first cards were, with the member's name and account number typed on. American Express moved to embossed plastic a year later, the first major issuer to do so.
Q 03Which comic-book superhero teamed up with Jerry Seinfeld in American Express commercials and two 2004 web films?
Superman
Superman was animated for the ads and voiced by Patrick Warburton, the actor who played Puddy on Seinfeld. The web films ran under the title The Adventures of Seinfeld & Superman.
Q 04In 1983, American Express pledged a penny per card purchase toward restoring which American landmark?
Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty drive raised $1.7 million for the restoration, and card use jumped by about 28%. Marketers took note, and the promotion became a model for tying sales to a good cause.
Q 05Which investor put 40% of his partnership's money into American Express after a 1963 scandal battered its shares?
Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett paid about $13 million for just over 5% of the company, the biggest bet his partnership had ever made. Three decades later his Berkshire Hathaway owned almost a tenth of it.
Q 06Which warehouse club accepted only American Express credit cards in its US stores until 2016?
Costco
Costco switched to Visa in 2016, taking with it about 8% of all spending on American Express cards. Profit fell 10% in the first quarter after the deal ended.
Q 07Which Roman soldier appears at the centre of American Express cards and gives the company's black card its name?
Centurion
Centurion is the name of the invitation-only black card launched in 1999, after years of rumours that such a card already existed. The helmeted figure also sits at the centre of the Green Card.
Q 08In which city in New York State was American Express founded in 1850, where co-founder William Fargo later became mayor?
Buffalo
Buffalo is where three rival express firms merged to form the company, though its first headquarters opened on Wall Street. William Fargo served as the city's mayor from 1862 to 1866.
Q 09Which annual shopping day did American Express create in 2010 to steer holiday shoppers toward local independent shops?
Small Business Saturday
Small Business Saturday falls the day after Black Friday, and American Express owns the trademark. A British version followed in 2013.
Q 10Which English football club plays its home matches at the American Express Stadium, known to fans as the Amex?
Brighton
Brighton & Hove Albion have played there since 2011 under a sponsorship deal worth £100 million. American Express also runs its European service centre in the same city.
Q 11Which actor, a 1970s TV police detective and Oscar winner, was the long-running face of American Express ads?
Karl Malden
Karl Malden fronted the company's television ads through the 1970s and 1980s, with his last spot airing in 1994. His Oscar came for playing Mitch in A Streetcar Named Desire.
Q 12What did American Express introduce in 1891 after its president struggled to get cash while touring Europe?
Travelers cheque
The Travelers cheque was devised by employee Marcellus Berry after letters of credit failed J. C. Fargo outside Europe's big cities. It launched in denominations of $10, $20, $50 and $100.
Q 13Which rival's pioneering 1950 card pushed American Express to launch a card of its own eight years later?
Q 21Which Wall Street investment bank did American Express buy in 1984 and spin off again a decade later?
Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers was folded into the Shearson brokerage as Shearson Lehman, then set free in 1994 when American Express gave up on Wall Street. The bank collapsed in 2008.
Q 22Which future Wall Street bank boss joined American Express in 1982 as assistant to Sandy Weill?
Jamie Dimon
Jamie Dimon, later head of JPMorgan Chase, turned down Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to take the job. His father was already an American Express executive.
Q 23A 1963 fraud that cost American Express millions involved storage tanks filled with water instead of which commodity?
Salad oil
Diners Club
Diners Club charged $5 a year, so American Express set its fee at $6 to look like the premium choice. Demand was so strong that 250,000 cards went out before launch day.
Q 14Henry Wells and William Fargo founded a second firm in 1852 after American Express refused to expand into which state?
California
California was a step too far for their fellow directors, so the pair set up Wells, Fargo & Company to carry express and banking business there. Both men stayed on at American Express as well.
Q 15Which US state has its largest city named after William Fargo, a co-founder of American Express?
North Dakota
North Dakota's biggest city was first called Centralia and was renamed to honour him as a director of the Northern Pacific Railway. It sits on the Red River, facing Moorhead in the next state.
Q 16American Express's invitation-only black card, introduced in 1999, is made from which metal?
Titanium
Titanium, anodized and laser-engraved, is what the card is minted from in most countries. American Express does not disclose what it takes to be invited.
Q 17Which talk show host starred in Animals, a black-and-white American Express ad that won a 2007 Emmy?
Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen DeGeneres carried the two-minute spot to the Emmy for Outstanding Commercial. Other famous cardholders in the company's ads of those years included Tina Fey, Beyoncé and Tiger Woods.
Q 18Restaurants in which US city began a 1991 revolt against American Express merchant charges?
Boston
Boston restaurateurs dropped the card over fees near 4% a sale, against about 1.2% for Visa and Mastercard. The revolt, nicknamed the Boston Fee Party, spread nationwide until American Express cut its rates.
Q 19American Express had to leave its New York headquarters in 2001 because the tower stood opposite which complex?
World Trade Center
World Trade Center debris tore into the tower's southeast corner on September 11, though the building never risked collapse. Staff began moving back into the repaired offices in 2002.
Q 20The PGA Tour event that took the name The American Express was for decades named after which comedian?
Bob Hope
Bob Hope added his name to the desert pro-am in 1965 and became its chairman of the board. Gerald Ford played in it less than three weeks after leaving the White House.
Salad oil that did not exist backed huge loans to broker Tino De Angelis, whose firm claimed to hold more than the whole country had. An American Express warehouse unit had vouched for the tanks.
Q 24In which city did American Express open its first European office in 1895, under president J. C. Fargo?
Paris
Paris got the office under James Congdell Fargo, William Fargo's younger brother, who ran American Express from 1881 to 1914.
Q 25Which culinary magazine did American Express own from 1980 until selling its publishing arm to Time Inc. in 2013?
Food & Wine
Food & Wine was selling 250,000 copies an issue when American Express bought it. It went to Time Inc. together with Travel + Leisure and Departures.
Q 26Who led American Express from 2001 to 2018 as one of the first Black chief executives of a Fortune 500 company?
Ken Chenault
Ken Chenault joined the company in 1981 and spent 37 years there. After stepping down he became chairman of the venture capital firm General Catalyst.
Q 27During World War I, American Express delivered up to 150 tons of parcels a day to which group?
Prisoners of war
Prisoners of war in six countries received letters, money and relief parcels through the company, which Britain had made its official agent. Staff even went into the camps to cash drafts.
Q 28Which retail giant teamed with American Express in 2012 to launch Bluebird, a prepaid alternative to a bank account?
Walmart
Walmart offered Bluebird to shoppers without a regular bank: wages could be paid straight onto the card, and the money carried federal deposit insurance.
Q 29Which restaurant-reservation app did American Express buy in 2019 and build into its own mobile app?
Resy
Resy became a perk for rewards cardholders once the deal closed. American Express added a second booking platform, Tock, in 2024.
Q 30Which Bono-founded charity brand did American Express join in 2006 with a British card that gave 1% of spending?
Product Red
Product Red sends its partners' donations to the Global Fund to fight AIDS in Africa. The card was open only to UK residents, while Gap, Converse and Armani sold their own versions of the idea.