Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping corporate finance operations, and global payments giant American Express is moving to strengthen its position in this emerging space. The company has agreed to acquire New York–based fintech startup Hyper, a specialist in AI-powered expense management and workflow automation. The move signals American Express’s growing focus on embedding intelligent automation directly into corporate financial tools as businesses seek faster, more efficient ways to manage spending and reporting.
American Express has announced plans to acquire Hyper, an agentic AI fintech company that develops automation tools designed to streamline back-office finance operations. While the financial details of the transaction were not disclosed, the acquisition is expected to close during the second quarter of 2026.
Founded in 2022 by Marc Baghadjian, Hyper has built an AI-driven platform that uses autonomous software agents to simplify expense management processes. The company’s flagship product functions as a digital finance assistant that can automatically review, categorise, and submit expense reports in real time through simple text-based interactions.
The platform is designed to reduce the administrative burden typically associated with expense reporting, one of the most time-consuming workflows for finance teams and employees alike. By automating the review and submission process, Hyper aims to eliminate manual data entry and accelerate reimbursement cycles.
In addition to its current expense management solution, Hyper is also developing two additional AI agents aimed at expanding the scope of financial automation. One of these is a financial planning and analysis (FP&A) agent capable of forecasting business performance, analysing financial trends, and modelling future outcomes. The second is a corporate travel agent designed to assist with planning and coordinating business travel.
American Express said the acquisition will strengthen its artificial intelligence capabilities within its Global Commercial Services division. The move also builds on an existing relationship between the two companies, which previously collaborated in 2024 on the launch of the Hypercard Rewards American Express card.
The integration of Hyper’s technology is expected to support the development of a new expense management platform that American Express plans to introduce later this year. That initiative began in 2025 when the company acquired expense management software provider Center, with the aim of combining its corporate card offerings with automated expense and accounting tools.
Once launched, the new platform is expected to provide businesses with integrated expense management features, automated reconciliation, accounting integrations, and card-linked rewards programmes. By incorporating AI-powered automation into the system, American Express is positioning the platform as a next-generation financial management solution for corporate customers.
Raymond Joabar, Group President of Global Commercial Services at American Express, noted that Hyper’s expertise in building AI agents will play a key role in accelerating the company’s ability to embed intelligent automation across its commercial products and services.
What this means for the industry
- AI agents are moving into financial workflows
Finance teams are increasingly adopting autonomous AI tools to automate routine tasks such as expense processing, reconciliation, and financial analysis. - Expense management is becoming a strategic platform battle
Payment providers are expanding beyond cards into full financial management ecosystems that combine payments, accounting, and automation. - Corporate cards are evolving into software-driven platforms
Integrating card payments with intelligent expense software creates a more seamless experience for businesses managing spending across teams. - AI-powered finance assistants could reshape back-office operations
As agentic AI systems mature, companies may rely on automated assistants to handle large portions of financial administration.
Photo by CardMapr.nl
