American Express Makes Major Purchase To Enhance Dining Perks

Did you sign up for an American Express credit card because of its menu of cardholder benefits? Those perks may soon get even better thanks to a major acquisition.

The popular credit card issuer just announced that it will acquire Tock from Squarespace in a $400 million deal.

Tock, which first launched in 2014, provides reservation, table management and event ticketing tools to approximately 7,000 restaurants, wineries, and other bookable venues.

This acquisition will add to American Express' dining benefit portfolio, which already includes Resy. Acquired by AmEx in 2019, Resy allows users to book reservations at more than 16,000 restaurants worldwide.

Why Dining Perks Are Important to American Express

You may see the purchase price on this deal and scratch your head wondering why a bank known for its credit cards is investing so heavily in dining platforms.

This is because dining is one of the top spending categories for American Express cardholders.

And, as such, the card issuer sees the Tock acquisition as another step in separating itself from the competition:

“Restaurants are one of our largest Card Member spending categories within Travel and Entertainment, with $100 billion in volume in 2023,” said Howard Grosfield, President, U.S. Consumer Services, American Express. “We’ve been offering unique dining benefits, exclusive access, and special experiences to our Card Members for years through Resy and Global Dining Access by Resy. Now, we can connect even more premium customers with the most exciting restaurants, while providing merchants and restaurants more technology to help their businesses thrive.”

AmEx cardholders likely are already familiar with the dining benefits of Resy.

The Global Dining Access program, a benefit included with The Platinum Card® from American Express, unlocks access to reservations at some of the world's most sought after restaurants.

Overall, American Express says it has increased the number of engaged diners by 3x and increased the number of restaurants by 5.4x since acquiring Resy in 2019.

Though we’ll have to wait a bit longer to know how it will be implemented for credit card users, adding the capabilities of Tock to its menu will likely grow these numbers.

card_name Annual Fee: $695 (See Rates & Fees) Foreign Transaction Fee: None Bonus Offer: Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards® Points Bonus Offer Disclaimer: after you spend $8,000 on eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Rewards Program Details: Earn 5X Membership Rewards® Points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year and earn 5X Membership Rewards® Points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel. This Is the Card for You If: You are a high-volume traveler who will get more benefit out of the long list of perks, which includes airport lounge access, than the annual fee will cost you. Terms apply.

Are you excited about what the acquisition could mean for your American Express card? Have you used Tock or Resy before? We’d love to hear about your experience in the Clark.com community.

To see the rates and fees for the American Express cards featured, please visit the following links: Platinum Card® from American Express: See rates and fees.

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